A Bond Beyond Worlds
by symbal21
Summary: When someone meddles with the line that divides worlds, to very different worlds will collide and two young men caught in the middle of it will meet for the first time! Battles will be fought, Emotions will be tried, and Ideals will be contested! Written close to the of both manga keeping character personalities. Rate and Review please.
1. The Light That Guides Dreamerspt1

Notes: Hello I never thought I'd come back here, but I had an idea for a crossover in my mind for a long time and I guess I finally got inspired enough to share it. I hope you all enjoy, and remember leave tons of reviews.

Some important notes to know before reading, Because Naruto is in a very awkward place in the manga for a crossover, and there are elements from different places in the story I want to use, I'm making a kind of alternate world for Naruto in this story. Some things in the story up to this point have happened, and others have not. Of course pretty standard of fan fiction to change the world sometimes, I just don't want to get comments like "Uhm did you forget Naruto did x y z" or "Why i character not dead/alive" I hope this does not deter anyone from reading.

* * *

_** One Piece and Naruto: A Bond Beyond Worlds**_

Chapter 1: Follow it! The light that guides the dreamers!

"Fire!" A voice yelled as explosions lit up the sky.

A small but fierce pirate ship was being pursued by a fleet of much larger ships. With the beaming face of a lion, this brilliantly decorated and cherished vessel is known as the Thousand Sunny across the seas, but to his crew he is more endearingly called the Sunny-Go in memorial to his late brother. A mist begins to brew on these already chaotic waters, leaving the path for the Sunny unclear.

"_Great_. As soon as we hit the New World we get chased by the marines again. I thought things were suppose to be more exciting here." Said a touchy young man, as he hurled back a cannon ball with only the strength of his legs.

"Humph, sounds more like you've gotten rusty these past two years, a couple of marines are getting you tight?" Said another brash young man. Three cannon balls approached the ship at full speed. With a single swing of one of his three blades, the cannon balls were cut seamlessly across the center and dropped into the oceans below.

"What'd you say you shitty swordsman!" the young blonde dropped from the air with fury in his eyes.

"Sanji! Zoro! Now is not the time for your stupid arguments! Let's focus on staying alive here!" A long nosed boy demanded. "Nami! How do we get out of here?"

"The fog is making it hard to set a course. And all this commotion is making it hard to focus. Franky can we burst out of here?" The frustrated girl tried her best to open the map in her hand, but found herself being struck by erupting waves.

"OW! We can be out of here in a SUPER minute, once we've repowered the Sunny with cola." Franky, the large Cyborg announced from the engine room.

"I wonder how Luffy is going to get back to the Sunny. It was pretty reckless of him to go straight to the ships." A small tanu…ahem reindeer said before transforming into a large ball of fur, taking the impact of several cannonballs.

"Yohohohoho! Do not worry Chopper-san; he is our captain after all." Said the ironically liveliest member of the crew, a reanimated skeleton. "Luffy-Saaaaaan! Give them the full force of your soul! My heart yearns for your return. Although I don't have a heart. YOHOHOHO!" His enormous afro seemed to dance with the burst of bombs in the air.

"You're so energetic Brook. You're almost making me jealous." Sighed a long nosed man. "Well this moment will be just as good as any to add to the Great Adventures of Captain Usopp Part Two!" "Hey Robin, can you see my subordinate, I mean our captain from up there?"

An enigmatic woman stood in the crow's nest of the ship. She stared silently at the oncoming fleet of ships attacking them, looking for a sign of some sort.

The onslaught continued as the ships grew ever closer to the spirited crew. Suddenly, one of the ships burst into flames. Just as quickly it was split in half and sank into the sea.

"Look!" She called.

The entire pirate crew stared in awe as another ship soon crumbled. A smile appeared on everyone on board the Sunny-Go.

"LUFFY!" They all shouted in familiar excitement.

Onboard the marine ships however, things were not as joyous. One boy was warping place to place stirring up the marine ship.

"Get Him!"

"Ah he jumped! Where'd he go?"

"Come back here straw hat!"

Landing on his feet in the center of the ship, he stood with a straw hat on his head and an unbreakable smile and vigor shined brightly from his face.

A horde of marines surrounded him with blades and guns at the ready.

"Straw hat Luffy! Infamous pirate from the Worst Generation with a 400,000,000 Berry bounty. You will be apprehended today!"

Without a second thought he prepped his fists, much to the dismay of the hesitant marines.

"_**GUM GUM GATLING!"**_

A flurry of punches battered and spread the group all across the oceans. An on looker on one of the other ships rushed to the captain of this vessel to report.

"Captain Smoker! This kid he just sank one of our ships and he's approaching another one! It won't be long before he gets here. What do-"

"What are you doing reporting to me when you could be using that time capturing straw hat?" A grizzly marine interrupted. If you were not ready for this kind of power then you shouldn't have become a marine. Keep all cannons focused on the straw hats ship; I'll deal with Monkey D. Luffy myself." He said chomping on his to cigars.

"Tashigi, report to the G-11 base, tell them we have the straw hats cornered and they are approaching their base."

"Yes Smoker-San!" said the confident, yet naïve looking girl.

"Man, I thought you New World marines would be tougher than this. I guess some things don't change.' Luffy sighed sitting on the banister with his eyes closed.

"You cheeky rubber bastard!" A marine said before firing a bullet at him. It burst and revealed a net, lined with sea stone. Unfortunately by the time the net met its destination, Luffy had vanished.

"Looks like this one is going down too." Luffy said now high in the air.

The terrified marines, watched on in horror as he stretched his leg into the sky beyond him.

"_**COLOR OF ARMAMENTS HARDENING…"**_ Luffy's foot turned black and hard as metal.

Tears fell down the many faces of the marines their fate was sealed.

"_**GUM GUM…" **_

"Not again!" They screamed.

"_**AXE!"**_

Luffy sent his foot crashing into the ship.

Suddenly, as if summoned from heaven itself, a cloud of smoke burst towards the rubber man. Before Luffy could finish his attack, Smoker had stabbed him in the gut with his Jutte. He also took the brunt of the force from the axe attack, but was able to shake off most of it with his own color of armaments. With a swift punch Luffy was grounded once again.

"Straw hat Luffy, maybe someday you'll realize you can never escape me. I've spent these two years patiently waiting, knowing you'd reveal yourself again eventually." Smoker claimed as he reappeared on the deck in a cloud of smoke. "You can only imagine my excitement when you did exactly as I imagined you'd do."

"Oh great this is Smokie's ship." Luffy responded as he got back up on his feet. "And it looks like you're ready to fight."

"YAHOO. Our Smo-san is amazing!" The marines began cheering. "Take him out!" "Show him the fury of G-5."

"It looks like you've learned how to use haki. Maybe you'll actually put up a fight this time." Smoker retorted, coming as close to a smile as his nature allowed him.

Luffy greeted the stare with an excited grin.

"LUUUUFFYYYYYYYY!" A voice echoed from afar.

Both Smoker and Luffy turned to see the terror that lay before them.

The ocean currents approached a gargantuan mountain. It seemed to have been born out of the mist itself, swallowing the barely visible sky.

"This isn't an ocean! It's a gulf! We're heading straight into that mountain!" Tashigi said.

"LUFFY YOU HAVE TO GET BACK ON THE SUNNY. IF WE COUP DE BURST FROM WHERE WE ARE NOW WITH ALL OF OUR POWER, WE HAVE A SHOT AT CLEARING IT." Nami said as loud as she could.

"SO GET YOUR DUMBASS OVER HERE!" Zoro yelled.

"Heh, well sorry Smokie we're going to have fight some other time." Luffy said as he stretched his arm.

"ALRIGHT GUYS I'M ON MY WAY!"

He wrapped it around the mast and landed on it. He then jumped back, arm still connected to the mast.

"_**GUM GUM ROCKET!"**_

He flung himself off the ship.

"Cease fire and stop all of the ships. I'm not going to let this chance slip away just like that." Smoker ordered.

"But Smoker-san, there's no way they can make it over that monster, they'll die for sure if they continue. They couldn't have survived the seas this long if they were that stupid, we have them right where we want them." A marine said.

Smoker grumbled, clearly aggravated by the statement.

"Remember this men and remember it well. When dealing with the Straw Hat Pirates, know that they would rather risk dying then surrender to the enemy, they have willpower far unlike the scum we usually wipe off the seas. Whether they live or die they'll risk it to continue fighting another day. And I want to capture them myself, and I want to capture them alive."

"_**WHITE LAUNCHER!" **_

He immediately burst into smoke and began pursuing the flying straw hat. "YOU HAVE YOUR ORDERS!" He yelled back.

"Franky are we all loaded?" Usopp asked, frantically running down the stairs that led into the engine room.

"Just give me the word and we're SUPER out of here!" Franky said with thumbs up.

"We're ready Nami!" Usopp announced.

"Ok Chopper if you can steer us facing towards one of the sides of the mountain, we may have a clearing.

"Alright Nami!" He then Transformed into his giant Human form and ran to the helm.

"Now we just have to wait until our idiot captain gets back." Sanji said as he lit a cigarette.

"Let's just hope we don't get too close to the mountain by then, or else we'll just slam into it and leave a bloody red stain." Robin said coming down from the crow's nest.

"Why do you always have to do that?" Usopp said with tears in his eyes.

Robin replied only with an innocent stare.

Luffy approached the sunny at a break neck pace. The speed began to distort his face spreading saliva everywhere and flapping his rubber face.

"STRAWHAT!" Smoker called not far behind him.

"Uh oh." Luffy said turning back to see his adversary.

"_**MULTI WHITE BLOW!"**_

"_**GUM GUM GATLING!"**_

The two attacks furiously collided with each other, in an odd dance they curled, wrapped, and struck each other as if they were a ball of combating snakes.

"Hey I think I see Luffy, and something's behind him." Zoro said peering out over the bow.

"We're moving to close; we'll lose our chance…Franky Burst us out of here now!" Nami ordered. "Luffy can always stretch onboard the ship!"

"HEY LUFFY, WE'RE ABOUT TO-"Zoro began.

But the swordsman was cut short as he noticed the dueling snakes approaching faster than the cannon balls.

"Luffy is coming in fast!"

Soon everyone on board looked out and instantly recognized the danger.

"LUFFY!" Usopp screamed.

Luffy was just able to glance at the ship before it was too late. Smoker was too focused on catching Luffy to notice that his attack skewed them both on course with the ship itself.

"_**COUP DE BURST!"**_

The ship engine burst with power and began to propel the ship.

At the same moment Luffy, crashed into the Sunny. Now the ship was rocketing straight forward towards the mountain.

"Ah! That idiot! He diverted the shot, now we're going straight into it instead of around!" Nami explained, now in terror.

Smoker finally realizing what was happening stopped his momentum. But it was too late, and he was shot back by the force of the burst and eventually fell into the ocean.

"SMOKER- SAN!" the marines yelled in unison fearing the worst for their captain. Luffy was almost blasted away like smoker, but manage to grab a banister at the last second.

The straw hats all clung to the Sunny for dear life as they stared face first into death. The ever looming shadow of the mountain got closer and closer.

"Oh how can this be the end, my life…my life is flashing before my eyes. Oh it was a great tale, the Adventures of the Great Captain Usopp!"

"Wait something is flashing!" Robin said trying her best to both hold on to the boat and keep her eyes open.

Luffy was also able to steal a glance as an enormous white light began to shine. The fog dissipated in its wake.

"I hear…a voice" Luffy said to himself.

"Summoning." a distant voice echoed.

"Who is that?" he began to ponder.

"Outer…world…" the echo trailed on.

The light became a void. All the straw hats got a glance into the infinite glare. The straw hats disappeared into the light, and were nowhere to be seen.

The marines had gotten halfway towards the mountain and a team went under to rescue their leader. Tashigi looked at the mountain, questions plaguing her mind.

"Just, what have you done this time?"

"Straw hat Luffy."

* * *

Deep in the foreboding and endless forest, hidden in the leaves lies a village. This appropriately dubbed Konohagakure is the home to many powerful shinobi. While on the outside it may seem like any other peaceful village, its quest for peace is a long and bloody tale of fighting for control of power. However, the village has survived through it all with its passed down belief in the will of fire. Love, family, and the strength to fight for those things will lead a powerful shinobi through his life. Not too far from the village can be found the Valley of the End, a waterfall where statues of the village founders rest. Atop the statue of founder Hashirama Senju, sits one of the most prominent members of Konoha, a powerful knucklehead ninja.

But now, he was not so much. What once was an eager young boy trying to gain recognition had become a young man with too much on his plate too soon. The smile that use to always appear on his face right before a battle or any chance he had to prove himself is now hidden behind the solemn gaze he wears in an attempt to sort out the future. Across this gaze lies the face of a man he has yet to ever face in battle and is long dead. However as he looks at it, it reminds him of someone from his past, someone he has yet to let go of, and it fills him with dread.

("If you attack Konoha I'll have to fight you.")

His own words echoed in his mind.

("I will shoulder your burden and die with you!")

("I won't change, I don't want to understand you, and I don't plan on dying.") A dark haired boy said.

The boy clutched his heart.

("I'll kill you first!")

("Naruto you still have your dream of becoming Hokage.")

He began to choke up as the thoughts continued to circle in his mind

("Naruto you don't have to worry about Sasuke anymore, please just come home!")

("Uzumaki Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha you two were destined to fight.")

On the brink of tears, the boy swallows his sadness and begins meditating.

(I have to stand by my word. When we fight, we will both die.) Naruto thought to himself.

(Then we can be happy…in the next world. Right Sasuke?)

As he meditates, he enters a state where he is one with nature, becoming a sage. In this state he notices a presence.

"Kakashi-Sensei, Yamato sensei, I know you're here." He said calmly.

From a small thicket a masked man reveals himself. "Sorry; didn't want to interrupt your special training."

A slightly younger man also walks from the bushes.

"Why are you here?"

"Well some of us noticed you weren't in the village and especially considering what's happened recently, we figured you were alone somewhere still training to control the Nine Tails. I was helping a couple of travelers find their way from Konoha to the Suna and decided to check this place out just in case you were here." Kakashi replied.

"Hey cut the crap! You still don't trust me training to use the Nine Tails on my own do you!" The boy replied angrily, leaving his meditation stance.

"No of course not." Yamato assured.

"Then why did you come along?"

"Uhm..."

"Look I can control the fox chakra now; I've had a lot of time to get to know Kurama. Even Bee says we've become a great team. I don't need to be baby sat by you guys anymore!"

"Kurama?" Kakashi said confused.

"Huh oh yea, that's the nine-tails name, Kurama. It's what the Sage of Six Paths named him when he created him." Naruto said with bright eyes.

"The tailed beast…has names?" Yamato said still confused.

"And just what more have you been learning about the Sage of Six Paths?" Kakashi Inquired.

"Well not much beyond what Kurama tells me. I can show you guys what we can do together." Naruto said excitedly. He faced the water fall and took a deep breath.

"You ready Kurama?" Naruto said.

Suddenly a bright light quickly flashed in the sky behind them.

"What's that?" Kakashi said covering his eye.

"It looks like it's over Konoha!" Yamato said.

"Oh man I was about to show you something really cool though! I'm sure it was just someone practicing some jutsu." Naruto assured.

"I don't want to take that chance come on Naruto." Kakashi said.

He and Yamato quickly left the scene.

"Argh, dammit! Hey wait; this is a chance to show them what I'm made of! Hehe." Naruto wickedly smiled.

As they leapt through the trees suddenly a flash of orange light burst past them. It landed on a tree beyond the two jonin. In another flash it disappeared.

"N…Naruto?" Kakashi said in awe.

* * *

A bright light engulfed the sky over the village. People began to flock outside to see what all the commotion was. Children stared at the sky in awe until they were eventually reprimanded by their parent's for staring straight at the sun.

"Whoa, what do you think that was?" A plump ninja asked his teammates. They were at their favorite barbeque when the sudden flash appeared.

"I dunno, someone probably lost control of their jutsu, now the Hokage's gonna make all of us investigate and make everything a drag. How troublesome." His friend responded.

"It's so bright, it hurts to look at." Their female companion said.

Meanwhile in the streets of Konoha.

"That was an unusual light. Hinata, Kiba be alert." A shady character told his comrades.

"Something came through it." The shy female said.

"Huh, you saw something Hinata?" Kiba asked.

"Guy-Sensei, look up their!" Said a youthful ninja as he continued to push up on one hand atop the roof of the barbeque hut. However he broke his teacher's concentration, causing Guy to come fall on his ass.

* * *

On the rooftop of the Hokage Residence, The Hokage herself looked upon the sky in worry.

Some ninja arrived next to her.

"Lady Tsunade, We are preparing a team to inspect that light that appeared. Should we evacuate the villagers?"

"Right now just make sure that whatever team that's been sent out has Shikamaru Nara on it and a member of the Hyuuga clan. IF this is some kind of sneak invasion I want to make sure we're prepared."

"Yes Lady Tsunade."

They left without a trace.

"Although….I may want to look at this myself. I feel like I've seen that before."

Suddenly something caught her eye. A straw hat was flying gently in the breeze.

* * *

"Alright what do we have here?" Shikamaru yawned as he walked through the crowds of people standing where the light had appeared.

"What do you see Hinata?" Kiba prodded.

"It looks like a ship…With a lion face." She began.

"Hinata, something came with that light?" Shikamaru over hearing asked.

"Yes, and it's coming closer. It's pretty big."

"Everybody back away something is falling. Until further notice stay inside. This is an evacuation." Shikamaru ordered. "Choji, Ino help us get everyone to safety.

"Right." They both said.

"There…there are people on it!" Hinata announced in shock.

"What? Great, an invasion, better not take any chances. Kotetsu, call in a few more reinforcements. If this is some sort of invasion from another village we need to be at the ready."

"Yeah." In a flash he was gone.

People began to scatter as the shinobi tried to calm and escort everyone a safe distance. Soon a shadow began to form on the ground. Shouts of terror began to fill the air as the ship came ever closer.

"Well there's the ship, but I can't see the people. Do they look dangerous, Hinata?"

"Actually…They look…terrified." She said surprised.

Shikamaru stared in disbelief.

Soon a noise filled the air.

"…SSSSSSSSSSSST…"

"Uh…what…is that?" one of the ninja's wondered.

"…OOOOOOOOOOOOP…"

"It's getting louder." Ino said.

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII T!"

"Everyone be prepared." Shino said as the insects in his blood got excited.

"SOMEBODY STOP THIS CRAZY THING!" The message came in clear as day now.

Everyone now shared the same expression of shock and fear as the ship finally crashed hard into the ground. A wave of dust across the anxious shinobi.


	2. The Light That Guides Dreamerspt2

Chapter 2: The Unprecedented Encounter

Dust and debris swept over the village. The confused villagers tried their best to shield their eyes and escape. The trusted shinobi of Konoha stood barely flinching; awaiting what was hidden in the cloud. As the smoke cleared, a large ship came into view.

"Wow it's huge! It could be a whole armada. "Chouji said.

"Damn we're gonna need those reinforcements. Hinata, can you see inside how many people are we dealing with?" Shikamaru asked.

Hinata, having been knocked over by the blast, slowly began to rise to her feet.

_**"BYAKUGAN"**_

"3…4…" She counted the images. "5 people on the deck." She then brought her eyes towards the back of the ship.

"2 people in a chamber on the bottom, and 1 person seems to be in the back."

"That's…it? On that huge ship?" Kiba said.

"They don't seem normal." Hinata said.

Rock lee and Might Guy Dropped down onto the crowd. Kotetsu and the other Chunin also arrived.

"It looks like easy pickings then." Kotetsu said with his army.

"If we are dealing with invaders, I will be sure to give it my best to defend our village!" Rock Lee announced.

"Let's see if they can handle the Green Beasts of Konoha!" Guy agreed.

"Oooooh." A voice trailed off the ship.

Everyone tensed up as someone began to rise from the deck.

"That idiot…what did he learned these past 2 years, how to be even more reckless?" The young pirate girl said trying to clean herself off.

"Nami, are you ok?" Chopper said, rubbing his head. "I should make sure everyone's not seriously hurt."

Usopp walked out on the deck straightening his nose.

"That was a pretty bad fall where did we end up?" He said. He then looked over the deck to see the crowd of ninja's with their weapons at the ready. A cold sweat instantly poured over his body.

"…guys…"

Robin rising to her feet peered over port and also saw the crowd.

"LISTEN UP, ALL OF YOU ON THE SHIP!" Shikamaru commanded. "I'D PREFER NOT TO FIGHT IF I DON'T HAVE TOO. SO I'M GONNA GIVE YOU GUYS THE CHANCE TO EXPLAIN YOURSELVES. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE AND WHAT IS WITH THAT LIGHT?"

Soon the 4 straw hats realized they were not welcome in this new strange environment.

"Hold…Hold on a minute! I can explain everything! We're not here to hurt anyone!" Nami began to frantically explain.

Usopp nodded in agreement with every word.

"Yes we're here by a mistake. Please don't attack us." Chopper pleaded.

"We're not monsters." Nami began to calm down.

"You see we just wound up here while-"

"GET OFF OF ME BROOK!" Sanji said kicking the skeleton off the ship.

Everyone watched in horror as the body slowly descended onto the ground. Brook drooled as he lay there silently. Clear as day, a dead body just fell off this strange ship.

The amount of disgust resonated in the air, everyone was silent but the faces said it all. Chopper, Usopp and Nami all had the same feeling of hatred for their once beloved chef.

"Oh my head." He said brushing the dirt and Brook stank off himself. He then looked up. "OH NAMI-SWAN, ROBIN-CHWAN! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE NOT HURT!" Sanji said as he ran to his beloved pirate women.

"That…" Chopper began.

"Freaking…" Usopp continued.

"Dumbass…" Nami finished.

Without another moment's hesitation, Chunin launched into the air prepared to assault the straw hats.

"Come quietly you sick bastards and this will all be easier." One of the Chunin said.

"Why you!" Sanji said prepared to fight.

"Sanji don't do anything else stupid just let Nami and I do all the talking. We can reason with them." Usopp said trying to hold Sanji back.

Suddenly, the ninja all fell, blood oozing from their mouths. They couldn't even react before the blade sliced through each one of them.

"You people…" He said as he held his now crimson sword. "…are too damn noisy!"

"ZORO YOU BASTARD!" Nami and Usopp screamed.

"Zoro…you're so dumb. But awesome!" Chopper said with sparkles in his eyes.

"Now they're definitely a threat, stop them!" Shikamaru ordered. Half the ninja force jumped onboard the ship prepared to attack.

"Hey moss head, you stole my prey. Why don't you just go back to sleep and let the real men handle this." Sanji said.

"Then who would be here to teach you how to fight?" Zoro countered.

"Noooo! Don't attack us! I warn you, we may be small but we are an extremely powerful crew of dangerous pirates! If you fight us it'll be your funeral! So don't even bother!" Usopp pleaded.

"There's only 9 of you verses the forces of Konoha. Stop lying to save yourself." A ninja denounced.

"Lying huh…" Usopp grinned.

As soon as they landed they were finished.

"_**SURE KILL GREEN STAR! HUMANDRAKE**_!"

Odd plants latched onto three unlucky ninja as soon as they touched the deck.

The rest looked on in anger, and threw their shuriken down at the ship.

Chopper jumped up into the air.

"_**GUARD POINT**_"

The disk bounced off his body in every other direction.

"_**KUNG FU POINT"**_

He then assaulted a small group of the attackers, sending them back to Earth.

More of the ninja on the ship watched on in both amazement, and rage.

"What is that thing?" One said before an arm appeared on her shoulder. Soon multiple arms wrapped themselves around her, grabbing her neck arms and legs. 4 others also shared her fate.

"Clutch." Robin said as the cracking sound of bones filled the air.

"They have some weird jutsu. That guy wasn't lying they're pretty tough." Shikamaru said looking on at the carnage.

"It serves us right for underestimating the opponent." Shino remarked. "It appears we will need to use all of our available units, less we risk being taken by surprise again."

"We didn't come here to start a fight you ninja bastards!" Sanji said kicking away a small crowd.

Nami began firing small black clouds wrapped in bubbles from her Clima-Tact. "It doesn't help to kick them while trying to prove you're innocent!" she said as the clouds exploded with electricity, shocking her pursuers.

Zoro ran through another unfortunate group with his blades. "It's too late for that kind of talk. We're fighting now just enjoy it while they last."

"HEY! Who said you guys could start fighting on the sunny! She's already badly damaged!" An enraged robot appeared on the deck.

"Franky?" Zoro said.

_**"0.5 LITER COUP DE VENT!"**_

Soon everyone was sent flying off the ship. The crew landed close to the spot Brook was. It was raining ninjas.

Franky jumped down and posed in his familiar stance.

"OW! You bastards want to hurt the Sunny! You're gonna have to go through her pops right here!" He said defiantly. "SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPEEEEEEEEEEE R!"

"Franky! I'll kill you later for that!" Sanji said getting on his feet.

Suddenly, Tsunade and a much larger force of ninja arrived.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shikamaru said.

"It looks like it's as I feared…invaders." She said. "But they look so unusual and don't seem to be coming from any particular village."

"Perhaps they are a group of missing ninjas?" Shizune suggested.

Tsunade studied the flag on their ship recognizing the hat.

"I'd say…more like pirates."

"Pirates?" Shizune responded in shock.

"It doesn't matter, right now they need to be apprehended and interrogated." Tsunade said.

"Sakura, you and I will tend to the fallen ninja. Something tells me these guys are going to be a hassle."

"Yes Lady Tsunade!" Sakura said.

"LEAF VILLAGE SHINOBI. SHOW THEM THE FURY OF THE WILL OF FIRE!"

"YES LORD HOKAGE!" the ninja responded without question.

"That must be their leader. Seems to be more brain than brawn." Zoro assumed.

"AND MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ANYTHING!" Sanji exclaimed getting weak in the knees.

"Dumbass…"

Now the battlefield was set the Straw Hats verses Konoha. Uhh…But what about their captain? Where's Luffy?

* * *

Atop the Hokage monument, a lone masked man stood. His one visible eye was glaring at the commotion from afar. His cloak wrestled furiously with the wind.

(I don't understand. What were you trying to accomplish. This had nothing to do with our plan.) He thought to himself.

He clutched a straw hat in his hands and gave it a questioning gaze.

(Perhaps these intruders can serve a purpose to me in the end.)

He released the hat and if set off in the high altitude gust. Its journey was cut short as it got latched on to one of the spikes that made the Fourth Hokage's hair. With no other options it waits patiently among the flowing winds.

* * *

The sounds of war echoed throughout the village. Fist connected, blades locked, bones broke and blood was flowed. The ninja forces were being swept left and right, but unlike the many marines the straw hats faced in the past, the ninja got back up and refused to go down completely. Bruised and battered the straw hats only smiled as they continued to show their strength. The battle began to change from protecting the city to proving who was stronger.

_**"STRONG RIGHT!"**_ Franky's right arm shot forward with great momentum.

Some unlucky ninja's got knocked out by the force, but a few evaded the attack. Ten-Ten began running across the arm and two ran along the sides. She jumped in the air and released a scroll sending a wave of Kunai at her opponent. They all struck the cyborg at the same time. However Franky stood unfazed as they could not pierce his metal body. He then knocked them away and aimed his left arm.

"_**WEAPONS LEFT**_!"

Bullets began flying in every direction, faster than the ninja could react. Many began to fall.

"_**FANG OVER FANG**_!"

Kiba and Akamaru charged spiraling towards the robot. Chopper intercepted the attack.

"_**GUARD POINT!**_"

But the reindeer found himself struggling to hold off the attack.

"Out of the way you Tanuki monster!" Kiba said as he left his spin.

Kiba then kicked the fur ball aside sending Chopper bouncing away. But his moment of victory was short lived, as he was struck with a vengeance by Sanji.

"_**VEAL SHOT!"**_

Kiba was sent flying through some buildings. Akamaru, enraged attempted to bite him but Sanji kicked the pooch once in the gut and sent him away with another to the face.

Rock Lee flipped backwards at a fast pace, and jumped into the air, attempting to land an aerial attack on Sanji. Sanji evaded the attack and responded with a kick. Rock lee diverted the attacked and attempted a couple of punches at Sanji which he easily evaded.

"_**LEAF WHIRLWIND!"**_

Sanji dodged one kick and blocked the other with his foot. He then knocked rock lee off balanced and kicked him away.

At the same moment, Zoro was cutting down ninjas like trees.

"Everyone, be careful against the Samurai. He seems to be the le-" The poor ninja didn't even get a chance to finish his warning before Zoro ripped through him.

"We have a samurai from the Land of Iron here! He's seems to be the most dangerous." A ninja announced.

"Let me handle him." An eager Asuma said as he activated his knuckle blades.

"Hopefully you'll last longer than your friends here." Zoro said confidently.

"You got a lot of bark for a guy taking out rookies. Try testing those blades on me." Asuma retorted.

The two rushed at each other like a demon and a beast in combat. The blades furiously clashed against each other, sparks flying each and every direction. Zoro attempted a decapitation technique with the Wado Ichimonji between his teeth, but Asuma was able to block. Zoro then jumped slightly and tried a side swipe. Asuma jumped in the air and over the swordsman's, attempting to cut him from this position. Zoro blocked each attack as he landed. The two charged once again at each other and as the blades locked, the two fighters bore confident grins.

"Not bad." Zoro said congratulating his opponent. "But there's no way you can beat me."

Before he could finish his attack both warriors had to back away from each other the large oncoming ball.

"_**HUMAN BOULDER!"**_

Robin on the receiving end of the attack stood unwavering.

"_**CIEN FLOR!" **_

2 large hands appeared.

"_**SHOVE!"**_

The two hands pushed hard against the attack. Robin showed signs of straining trying to push the hefty ninja out of her way.

Some ninja behind her took this opportunity to attack.

Robin smiled and began to fade away revealing it as a clone. The two arms also faded.

"CHOUJI!"

It was too late. Chouji crashed into the ninjas and only stopped after they were crushed.

"Uh oh, sorry guys." He said embarrassed.

Robin stood a few feet away with an innocent smile.

"Grrrr you!" Chouji said angrily.

"_**MIL FLOR!**_

"_**SUPER EXPANSION JUTSU!" **_

"_**SLAM!" **_

Chouji's arms enlarged and challenged the Flower Flower attack.

At the same moment, a group of ninja were following Nami, throwing their kunai. Nami barely evaded the attacks and even managed to parry some with her Clima-Tact. Suddenly the ground below her began to break apart.

"_**EARTH STYLE! EARTH DECOMPOSITION!" **_

A jonin began breaking apart the dirt around her. Nami fell into the ditch and was seemingly crushed.

"Excellent, we got one of the weak ones." The ninja said proud of himself. "Let's tie her up and…huh?"

A spark could be heard.

"You really should know the difference between a mirage and the real thing." A voice said.

"_**THUNDER BALL!"**_

The ninja's could see a lone black cloud floating away from them.

"_**THUNDER LANCE TEMPO!"**_

Suddenly a bolt of lightning shot from the cloud, piercing all in its path.

"Where…did that…?" he choked out before collapsing.

"Don't underestimate me just because I'm cute." Nami said appearing out of thin air.

"Very well then." A voice said.

"_**EIGHT TRIGRAMS VACCUUM PALM!" **_

Before she could react, Nami was blown away by a burst of energy. She crashed hard into some trees and started bleeding from the mouth barely conscious.

"You have some dangerously deceptive techniques, but you can't hide from my eyes." Neji said. Before he could approach his target he backed out of the way from a powerful kick.

"How dare you attack a beautiful young woman so relentlessly?" Sanji said, infuriated with the young Hyuuga. "I'll fillet you and serve you on a steaming plate of my passion!"

"I'm sure you would. Just like that poor man you kicked off your ship after you were done swallowing his flesh!" Neji said getting in his trigrams stance.

"Why do you have such a sick imagination!? We didn't eat anyone! Argh it doesn't matter you're toast!"

"_**MUTTON SHOT!"**_

"_**EIGHT TRIGRAMS PALM ROTATION!" **_

The two attacks clashed against each other.

Meanwhile, Shino sent a cloud of bugs towards Usopp who was busy running for his life. He dropped a pop green on the ground and left it behind.

"HA!" He said after he was a safe distance from the insects.

"_**SPECIAL ATTACK, GREEN STAR! RAFFLESIA!" **_

A huge flower popped up from the ground. The bugs found themselves drawn to it and wound up stuck inside the nectar in the center.

"Hahaha! The Rafflesia's smell attracts insects of all kinds so that they meet their doom. Let's see you stop me now you creepy bug guy!"

Shino was already in front of him by the time he finished his sentence. He punched Usopp just as quickly.

"That wasn't supposed to happen." Usopp said staggering.

"Oh what's that smell?" Kiba groaned as he fell to the horrible stench.

"Usopp I hate when you use that technique." Chopper said also hampered by the smell.

"Come on we got them on the ropes." Franky said still firing shots from his left arm.

"_**FIRE STYLE FIREBALL JUTSU!"**_

Suddenly a blaze, cut through the flower and continued on towards Usopp and Shino. Shino jumped out of the way and Usopp ran as fast as he could.

"No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no…" Usopp chanted.

"_**SANTORYU 36 CALIBER PHEONIX!" **_

A swift wind cut through the flames.

"HEY WATCH IT ZORO YOU COULD HAVE CUT ME IN TWO!" Usopp said having just evaded Zoro's attack.

"Where did that come from?" Zoro wondered as he walked past Usopp.

"Don't ignore me!"

"Good I wasn't too late." Kakashi said walking past the burning Rafflesia. "It seems we're not dealing with normal intruders."

"I can sense I pretty strong aura from you. Better than that boxing punk. Perhaps you're just the one I've been waiting for." Zoro said excitedly.

Kakashi examined the battle field. Asuma lay beaten on the floor, bloodied. Ninjas were spread everywhere, trying their hardest to get back on their feet. Medical ninjas were rushing frantically to procure bodies from the carnage. It was a losing battle.

"Shikamaru, perhaps it's time to stop taking them lightly. It's not looking too good for us. We need a plan."

"Right." Shikamaru groaned.

He began observing. Chopper was being kept busy by Kiba and Akamaru's assault. However his transforming made it difficult for them to keep up with him. Hinata and Neji attempted to attack Franky with their gentle fist to no avail. Rock Lee, now with gates open continued to push Sanji in combat, but the strength of Sanji's kicks began taking their toll. While some ninja were trying to use ninjutsu they became victims to Robin's clutch. While some ninjas were attacking a mirage of Nami a pop green burst releasing a bamboo javelin forest below the ninja.

"Hmm alright I'm gonna need a diversion so I can regroup with some people."

"Leave it to me." Kakashi said.

Meanwhile Yamato had gone straight to the ship.

"Hm this is a very odd ship. Doesn't look like it comes from this era at all." Yamato said inspecting it.

"Well if I commandeer the ship, we can learn more about where they came from." He said as he prepared the hand signs for a jutsu.

"HEY CAN SOMEONE HELP ME?" a voice said.

Yamato looked up and saw inside the large of the ship. A body was stuck inside.

* * *

"Damn it!" Naruto said as he leapt from tree to tree. "I swore I was in the lead!

"You still can't see when you're moving with my cloak." A voice from within said.

"Shut up Kurama! I can use it just fine. I just decided to take the long route." Naruto retorted.

"Sure. You better not be late. If it is invaders, it's been my experience that Konoha isn't very difficult to destroy." Kurama said.

"You just keep talking, I'm gonna be just in time." Naruto replied confidently. (I do wonder if Kakashi and Yamato made it. I hope everything is ok.)

"…HEY WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT KONOHA?"

* * *

Thick fog began to cover the battlefield.

"What's this? It didn't feel like fog was coming at all." Nami said confused.

"That weirdo with the one eye did it. Looks like he has some sort of ability." Zoro said.

"You're one to talk about one eyed weirdoes." Nami said.

Everything eventually disappeared in mist.

"The cowards trying to retreat now that they're losing. There not worth the time." Zoro said disgusted.

"Now's our chance to get out of here!" Usopp said.

"And go where we don't even know what Island we're on right now or how we got here." Sanji said.

"We should stay on our guard. The enemy wouldn't use a technique like this unless it was advantageous to them." Robin suggested.

"Oh trust me, they can't hide from me." Zoro said.

"Alright these guys are pretty strong even on their own but together they're even worse." Shikamaru began. "But we can win we just have to exploit their weaknesses like they're exposing ours. Ino, I'm gonna need you to use your mind body switch jutsu on the woman in the flower dress. Right now she's the most dangerous since her jutsu is instantaneous and restraining."

"No problem." Ino said.

"The next most dangerous ones are the girl with orange hair and Pinocchio. This is where the Hyuuga clan comes in. You guys can see where the girl is no matter what jutsu she uses and you can pinpoint where those seeds are."

"We can do that." Neji said. Hinata agreed.

"As for the transforming monster, it's good we have Kakashi-sensei here. The monster fights mostly defensively with that fur shield, But I doubt it can hold against lightning techniques. I don't know what that huge guy is made of, but it's too hard for even kunai to pierce, Rock lee and Guy sensei, I'm going to need your strong fist to try and bring him down. He's strong but slow shouldn't be too difficult for you two."

"You got it!" Guy said.

"Now for those two headaches the blonde guy and the samurai. The blonde guy seems to have a thing with women, I doubt he'd hurt a girl. Sakura you think you can take him?"

"Of course!" Sakura replied happy to be a part of the action.

"As for the swordsman I'll try to hold him down with my shadow possession jutsu. Shino your bugs should work well to stop him after that."

"We shall see." Shino said pushing up his glasses.

"_**SANTORYU! DRAGON TWISTER!"**_

A powerful gust blew away the mist.

"I hope that wasn't your trump card, cause if that's the case, this is gonna end pretty badly for you." Sanji said lighting a cigarette.

"Hmph you guys already lost this fight. Attack!" Shikamaru boldy claimed.

"_**FANG OVER FANG!"**_

Kiba and Akamaru charged towards the crew going every which way. The straw hats dispersed, leaving them open to a counter attack.

"I'll handle them!" Chopper said.

"_**GUARD POINT!"**_

"_**LIGHTNING BLADE!"**_

Before Chopper could intercept the dogs, Kakashi came crashing upon him. Luckily Chopper got out of the way just in time to avoid being pierced.

"_**LIGHTNING STYLE: LIGHTNING BEAST RUNNING JUTSU!"**_

Unfortunately Chopper was caught in the next attack. An electrical demon ran through Chopper sending shocks throughout his entire body and blasting him a good distance.

"Chopper!" Robin cried.

"_**MIND BODY SWITCH JUTSU!"**_

Before she could react, Robin was taken possession of by the young ninja.

(Hm easy)

(Don't worry Robin, I don't know what she did, but I'll save you) Nami thought to herself having become invisible again.

"_**EIGHT TRIGRAMS…"**_

(Not this time!) Nami thought trying to get out of the way of Neji's attack.

"_**GENTLE STEP: TWIN LIONS FISTS!"**_

Nami was once again knocked back by the technique. She struggled to move her body at all this time.

"Nami!" Usopp said. "I got this!"

"_**SPECIAL ATTACK! GREEN STAR DEVIL!"**_

As the seed launched Neji struck it with his gentle fist, completely obliterating it.

"Ah you try this!"

"_**EXPLODING STARS!"**_

Usopp launched multiple bombs across the field

"_**EIGHT TRIGRAMS 64 PALMS GUARD!"**_

Hinata destroyed each one before the hit anywhere.

"Uh oh they're fighting smarter now." Usopp realized.

"Bastard!" Sanji said preparing to strike Neji.

"No way!" Sakura said as she slammed Sanji into the ground with her fist.

"Alright whose ass do I have too…?" Sanji said now bleeding from his mouth. He then took a look at Sakura.

"AH BABY-CHAN! SUCH POWER FROM SUCH A DELICATE FRAME!" Sanji said completely off guard.

"Oh! You think I'm cute?" Sakura said, flattered and posing.

Then Sanji took a look a few feet farther back and noticed Hinata.

"OOOOOOH! SUPER CUTE-CHWAN! YOUR MILKY GAZE CAPTURED MY HEART FROM ACROSS THE STARS FROM WHICH YOU CAME TO THIS UNDESERVING EARTH!"

"I…I" Hinata's face burned red instantly as the perverted chef skipped towards her.

"YOU PERVERTED BASTARD!" Sakura now infuriated kicked Sanji through a few buildings.

A fair distance away, Franky was knocked over by a kick from Rock Lee.

"These flashy guys are really killing my mood. And I was feeling so SUPER this week." Franky complained.

"His body is hard as steel that last hit hurt my leg." Rock Lee said shaking holding his knee.

"LEE! You can't let something as trivial as pain slow you on your path of eternal youth! Guy encouraged. "Watch as I end this in the next attack."

In a flash he kicked the metal man three times launching him into the air. With a powerful punch he knocked him back down into the ground.

Franky slowly rose from the ground bloodied.

"_**ROCKET LAUNCHER!"**_

Franky fired three missiles at the green beast. They quickly dodged out of the way, leaving the rockets to destroy a few buildings.

"These guys are tricky; I need to step it up." Franky said getting back on his feet.

Zoro watched as the tides were turning against his friends.

(This is looking bad; I'll have to end this in one technique)

"_**SANTORYU…"**_

Zoro found it difficult to move.

"Sorry buddy, but you don't move no unless I say so." Shikamaru said smugly.

"_**SHADOW BINDING JUTSU!"**_

A stream of black tentacles began to cover Zoro's body.

Shino prepared a stream of insects to attack Zoro.

"You think this can hold me? It's like a child tugging on my leg." Zoro said.

(He's right, it's hard to keep this jutsu up and he's not even trying to move yet.) Shikamaru thought as he struggled to hold Zoro down. (Just what are these guys?)

"HEEEEEEEEEY GUYS!" a voice yelled from afar.

Everyone turned back to the ship to see a young boy on top of the Sunny.

"LUFFY!?" The Straw Hats all said in unison.

* * *

Naruto finally made it to a clearing revealing Konoha.

"Yes! Finally made it!" Naruto said. He then realized he was atop the Hokage monument.

"What!? How'd I get up here? Oh man it looks like there's a really cool battle going on too!" Naruto said as he examined the area.

Naruto then noticed the hat on top of his father's head.

"Hey what's this?" he said dropping down.

"What's going on, who are all these guys with the weird clothes?" Luffy asked taking a look at the battlefield. "You guys having a hard time?"

"Who's that? He doesn't look very strong at all." Shikamaru said to himself.

"Again you underestimate the enemy look in his hand." Shino said as he pointed.

Upon closer inspection it was clear, Luffy held an unconscious Yamato in his hand.

"Yamato Sensei!" Sakura said recognizing the body.

"Hmm, oh yea this guy was annoying. First he got me out of the thruster. Then he tried to attack me. I had to knock him unconscious." Luffy said as he tossed the body aside.

"Get him too!" a Jonin ordered.

Soon a horde of ninjas were in the air approaching Luffy. They tossed there Kunai in at the young pirate.

Every single one missed.

"What? He didn't move! How did he dodge them?" the same Jonin said confused.

"Hey watch it you could have damage my…" Luffy paused as he felt his head.

"WHERE IS IT? MY HAT! MY TREASURE!" Luffy freaked out!

He began searching all around the wreckage like an ant scurrying around a tree. He eventually popped out of the ship and onto the battlefield.

"Hat?" Tsunade said studying the flag.

"Did you guys do something to my hat!?" Luffy angrily inquired.

"What hat what are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked.

"That's not important; right now we have to stop these guys." Kakashi said looking at the situation at hand.

"Right!" The ninja began their assault again.

"Damn it!" Franky said in frustration as the ninja began to focus their attack on Luffy.

"If you guys don't know where it is…" Luffy began as the world became silent.

"_**THEN YOU'RE IN THE WAY!"**_ Luffy's eye dilated and suddenly a wave of power spread over the village.

Almost the entire force of ninja dropped to the floor. Ten Ten dropped instantly before she could even realize what was going on.

"What…" Hinata managed to choke out before she was knocked out.

"Lady Hinata…You" Neji said as he too felt the effects of the force. He stayed conscious but couldn't move.

"This feeling…" Sakura said as she was knocked out.

"Akamaru…what." Kiba said as Akamaru fell. He tried his hardest stay up but eventually he too collapsed.

"What…was that…?" Shikamaru said trying to keep his composure.

"What's going on? Why is everyone…?" Chouji began. He managed to stay conscious but felt too weak to talk.

"Guy sensei…my youth." Rock Lee said as he was brought to his knees. He kept himself awake but couldn't fight against the force.

Shino's bugs all scurried back into his clothes. "I knew it. There was more to them than…meets the eye." Shino said body quivering.

"What power, even I can feel it." Guy said amazed at the spectacle.

"What kind of jutsu could this possibly be? My sharingan couldn't pick up anything." Kakashi said.

"Who is this man?" Tsunade said almost frightened at the display.

In the end, only three ninja were completely unaffected. Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy and Tsunade Senju.

"Damn it Luffy, things were just getting exciting and you had to use your damn Haki again." Zoro said disappointed.

"Sorry, I only used a little bit though; I thought it'd just take out the weak guys. I guess they're all weak huh?" Luffy said scratching the back of his head.

"Yea I was trying to make it last before I took 'em all out."

Luffy began laughing but then felt something missing on his head.

"Ah! MY HAT WHERE IS MY HAT!" Luffy said as he began running through the town.

Now the battlefield was cold and empty and a feeling of both confusion and anticipation filled everyone's heart.


	3. They Finally Meet!

Chapter 3: They Finally Meet! The Two Future Kings

* * *

"WHERE IS IT?"

Luffy rampaged through houses causing an uproar everywhere he went. He searched behind trees, ran through shops, climbed up trees, devastating everything in his path.

"TELL ME WHERE IT IS!"

People began running away in the streets trying to escape the madman.

"The invaders are terrifying!" One said trying to escape with his daughter.

Luffy busted through the window of one of the houses and immediately stormed another one. He wound up on the rooftop and surprisingly took a moment to think.

"Where could it have gone? I couldn't have lost it in that freaky light." Luffy said to himself.

He began searching each direction for some kind of sign. He then saw the Hokage residence.

"I haven't checked there yet!" He said determined to find his treasure. "Ah this may be my chance, to do like he did." He then chuckled to himself. As he got ready.

* * *

Back at the battlefield, the tension was thick in the air as each side waited for the other to move.

Nami tried her best to get up but her body was completely unresponsive.

"Nami!" Chopper said as well but he too found it difficult to move his electrocuted limbs.

"This fight is getting serious; more damage is being done to the city than to the enemy. All of our ninja are under some kind of genjutsu; I'd say our best bet is to warp them out of here." Kakashi said preparing his mangekyou sharingan.

Sanji walked out of the buildings he crashed through with a freshly lit cigarette. He was bloodied but didn't seem to pay attention to it. "You can't pick a fight with us and then resort to cheap tricks when you're losing."

"If you want to save your village, defend it." Zoro agreed.

"WAIT!" Chopper screamed as loud as he could. He was in his brain point now.

Everyone looked at him as he struggled to get back on his feet.

"This didn't need to happen. So many people are hurt now for nothing. We didn't come to start a fight!" He cried.

Tsunade looked at the wreck the city was in now and all the ninja who were bloodied and knocked out. "We'll leave but please let us heal our crew and fix our ship!"

Kakashi hesitated.

"Chopper! How can you call yourself a man of the sea if you bow to the enemy?" Zoro reprimanded.

"But…" Chopper bent his head down. "We didn't want to fight in the first place…"

Villagers began filling up the streets. "Help save us from the mad man!" some cried. Some of the staggered ninja began to collect themselves.

Chopper ran as far as his charred legs could take him towards Nami.

"We can't take any chances, especially with that crazy man running through the streets. He's extremely dangerous." Tsunade said.

"No he just wants his hat. It's a long story but it means a lot to him. Luffy is a good guy." Usopp pleaded.

"How are we supposed to believe that story…?" Neji said having completely come together. "Explain that body that fell out of the ship!" He demanded.

As Neji said those words, Brook slowly rose from the ground. Now covered in dirt and debris he truly looked like the undead rising from the ground.

"OOOOOOooooOOOOO….!" He groaned.

Once again the villagers screamed in terror and began panicking through the streets.

"ZOMBIE!"

"It's not safe anywhere!"

"I'd rather take the madman than a zombie!"

Brook took a look around him.

"ZOMBIE!? WHERE!?" He screamed. "Did he slaughter all these people!?"

"SCARY!" He ran straight out the village entrance.

"Wait! Brook!" Franky said.

But it was too late he was gone.

"Did…that skeleton…just…talk?" Chouji said confused.

"Can things get any worse?" Usopp said as he fell to the ground completely negative.

Chopper was trying to nurse Nami's wounds and did not notice anything else that was happening.

"Please Nami, don't die! Not like this." He said as he wrapped her wounds in a tourniquet.

Tsunade walked up to the young doctor and placed her hands over his hoofs. Chopper looked at her bewildered.

"I'll take of it from here. Tell your friend his hat is on the monument straight ahead." She said with a smile. Her hands began glowing green and soon Nami's wounds began healing.

"How…" he started.

"I told you, we will take care of the wounded here. Right now you have to stop your friend."

Chopper began crying, but quickly wiped the tears away. He then changed into walk point and ran towards the monument.

The rest of the crew all wondered the same thing, where to go from here? After a few minutes of thinking, Usopp, and Robin began chasing after Chopper.

"Kakashi follow them." Tsunade ordered. When you see the boy, tell him to gather his crew and meet me in my office."

Kakashi hesitated. He then hid his sharingan. "What was it about that creature?" he asked as he walked past her.

"He just reminded me of someone. That's all."

He then took off after them.

Zoro yawned and sheathed his swords. He started walking back to the ship.

"Well I guess it's over now, I'll be on the Sunny."

"What! Just like that?" Chouji said still confused by the events that took place.

* * *

Luffy put his hands on his knees and began stretching low.

"After two years there's no way I'll fail."

He then ran towards the edge of the roof and took a leap of faith to the next building across. Without losing momentum he leapt to the next building. Feeling freer than he's ever been he jumped from building to building.

"Ah this is it." He said with tears in his eyes. "The dream of every man…to be as free as possible! YAHOO!"

At the height of his excitement, he was suddenly brought down by an unidentified flying ninja.

He landed on top of the Hokage residence.

"Hey who was that?" He was being held down by a blonde haired boy.

"So are you responsible for all the destruction?" the boy asked.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Luffy said as he gave the ninja a head-butt.

The boy fell back and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Huh?" Luffy said bewildered.

He then looked up on top of the monument.

"Who're you?" The same boy said standing on top the fourth head.

Luffy looked next to his leg. "There it is! Give it back you bastard!"

"What? Don't ignore me!" The boy replied angrily.

He then looked down and noticed what he was talking about.

"This is what you want? This is what you've been destroying Konoha for?" Naruto replied enraged.

"I just want my hat back!" Luffy retorted.

"Well then you'll have to face Naruto Uzumaki! The Hidden Leaf's number 1 ninja and future Hokage!" The boy exclaimed as he brought his hands together.

"_**SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" **_

Suddenly three clones appeared.

"A Devil Fruit?" Luffy said to himself shocked.

Two of the clones jumped off the head and prepared to attack the young pirate.

Luffy easily evaded the attack and punched out each clone. As they disappeared Luffy noticed the other two were preparing an attack. It was a small blue sphere.

"EAT THIS!" he said as he launched himself towards Luffy.

"_**RASENGAN!"**_

"You cat-faced bastard!" Luffy said as he jumped towards Naruto fist clenched.

Right before they could collide, Kakashi appeared right between them. He grabbed each boy's arm and swung them around. He then tossed them away from each other and towards the railings of the roof.

Naruto's rasengan slammed into the roof destroying a good portion of the building. Luffy fell over the railing and on to the ground.

"Sorry Naruto, you're a little too late." Kakashi said.

Luffy was falling of the roof but was caught by a net or arms the sprouted from the building.

The arms gently lowered Luffy down to where he was greeted by his crew.

"Luffy, you gotta calm down." Usopp said.

"We know we're your hat is. It's on the monument." Chopper said now more relaxed.

"Yeah I know and I'm going to get it and then I'm gonna kick that cat-face and cyclop's ass!" Luffy said

"Wait Luffy, some things have happened. It may be best not to aggravate the people here anymore." Robin said.

"Just try to listen this time Luffy; after all we need to find out where we are and how to get back to the sea." Usopp said.

Luffy hesitated for a moment. "I guess you're right."

On the rooftop.

"Kakashi! What are you doing? I was gonna stop that guy!" Naruto said.

"If you had followed us, instead of trying to show off you would be up to date on what's going on. Let him get his hat then maybe then we can get everything straight."

Suddenly Luffy shot into the air. After a few flips he landed back on the roof.

"Ok on the fourth head there." Luffy said as he wound up his arm. "One more time."

"_**GUM GUM…"**_

"Gum?" Kakashi wondered.

Luffy's arm stretched over to a spike on the head of the statue.

"What!?" Naruto and Kakashi said in shock.

"_**ROCKET!" **_

His arm carried him over to the top of the head like a line being reeled in. He picked up his hat smiling harder than ever finally reunited with his first great love.

"Yes! Never again." Luffy said fitting the hat on his head snuggly. "Awesome! What a view!" He said finally taking a look at the leaf village. The air was rife with pollen and the season of birth. With the village quiet now, one could hear the rustling of the life in the trees. Birds seemed to ignore the commotion, sharing their song with the wind. The immense light in the center only made everything more vibrant and lush. The forest seemed to go on endlessly.

Luffy then focused on the Sunny far off in the town center.

"Oh no! I almost forgot! Is the Sunny ok? And my crew." Luffy said as he jumped down.

"If you're worried about your crew, don't be we'll take care of them." Kakashi said.

"Huh?" Luffy replied somewhat confused.

"I don't get it Kakashi sensei what's going on?" Naruto said trying to wrap his mind around the events that just took place.

"I can't claim to know exactly how this fight started, but it's clear there's some kind of misunderstanding. If you round up your crew and follow me we can meet with lady Tsunade and clear this all up." Kakashi informed.

He then walked to the staircase and left the two boys to figure out what just happened.

"Wh…What?" They both staring at each other confused.


	4. They Finally Meet pt2

Chapter 4: Settling Down

"Konoha?" A curious Luffy asked sitting atop a stack of books inside the somewhat small office of the Hokage.

"Yes. This is the village hidden in the leaves, Konohagakure. It's the capital of the Land of Fire." Tsunade explained. "I'm surprised you haven't heard. Not to brag but we have one of the largest military forces in the ninja world."

"N-n-NINJA!?" Luffy said with sparkles in his eyes. "So cool!"

"You mean…actual ninjas, with shuriken and kunai?" Chopper asked also in admiration.

Tsunade nodded.

Luffy and Chopper freaked out.

"Hey you know guys, before I decided to become a brave man of the sea; I was a great and feared shinobi of the shadows!" Usopp lied, also excited at the prospect of the meeting ninjas.

"Wow that's so awesome Usopp!" Chopper said.

"Then why did that Kuro guy kick your butt?" Luffy inquired.

"Why you! I'll show you my ninjutsu!" Usopp said angered.

He chased a cackling Luffy around the room. Robin sat reading a peculiar book. They soon got into a ninja battle.

"Watch this! _**"HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT JUTSU!" **_Usopp said putting his hands in a fake seal.

He then quickly ducked behind a potted plant.

"_**KARATE CHOP JUTSU!" **_

Luffy slammed his hand against Usopp's head.

"NO LUFFY! That's not how you do it! You need to be sneaking and mysterious like this." Usopp instructed moving in awkward stances. Chopper continued to cheer Usopp on.

(What is with these guys? They're such an abnormal team.) Kakashi who stood beside lady Tsunade thought.

(Why are they so stupid?) Shizune who was also present pondered.

"Ha ha these guys are so dumb!" Naruto, who had also been present, was hysterical with laughter at the boy's antics.

Tsunade was becoming annoyed.

Suddenly Kurenai and Sakura barged in the room with an unconscious Sanji.

"Sorry to interrupt lady Tsunade, but we had to drag this guy away from the hospital." Kurenai said.

"When we brought the orange haired girl in he wouldn't leave her alone, it made it to difficult to heal her with his stupid swooning. Kurenai-sensei had to put him under a genjutsu just to stop him." Sakura said.

"You can lay him down over there. I'm already having trouble dealing with these idiots." Tsunade said.

They laid Sanji against the left side wall.

"Has everyone been accounted for?"

"Yes, the injured are now healing in the hospital." Kurenai replied.

"Excellent, Kurenai you may go. Sakura, would you mind helping me with something?" Tsunade said.

"I'm already on it." Sakura said.

* * *

"We're sorry." Luffy and Usopp said, faces swollen and bruised.

"Ha for once it wasn't me." Naruto sighed.

"YOU'LL GET YOURS SOON ENOUGH! WHERE WERE YOU DURING THAT FIGHT YOU DUMBASS?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Uh I can explain Sakura-Chan…" Naruto receded.

"What country do you hail from? You don't seem to be wearing any headbands so you don't seem to be affiliated with any nations." She inquired.

"Country? Luffy said finally paying attention. "We didn't come from any country we came from the Grand Line." He replied.

"Grand Line?" she inquired.

"Yea we're pirates looking for the legendary treasure the One Piece!" Usopp said.

"One Piece?" Kakashi asked.

"Yea whoever finds it is gonna become King of the Pirates! That's gonna be me, Monkey D. Luffy!" The proud boy said.

"There's such a thing as King of the Pirates?" Sakura asked somewhat disappointed with the world.

"Mhm. He has the most freedom on the seas." Luffy said.

"What sea is the Grand Line?" Kakashi asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Usopp said. He pulled out a world map and placed it on the table. He opened it up, much to the shock of the ninja present.

"You see the 4 oceans are divided by mountain called the Red Line and across that a sea known as the Grand Line where Gold Roger…" Usopp began to explain.

"That can't be right…" Tsunade said.

"What?"

"Where did you get that map? It's not a world map is it?"

"Of course it is. Can't you see it shows everything?" Usopp once again began to point.

She reached in her draw and pulled out another world map.

"This is what the world looks like, that map must be a fake." Sakura said trying to reassure herself.

"No way! This map is one hundred percent authentic. We've followed it all the way from the East Blue into the New World, which this country is in, right?" Usopp said, becoming somewhat frightened.

Tsunade shivered a little bit.

"Look that map is a fake; otherwise you're trying to tell me you come from a completely different world!" Sakura said.

"That…may be the case." Tsunade said.

"Shizune, summon Anko for me." Tsunade ordered.

"Uh…yes Lady Tsunade." Shizune said.

* * *

Nami lay in the hospital; eyes only open enough to see the blurry unfamiliar room. Her bed lied beside the window, where a large stream of light washed upon her face. The curtains beside her blocked out any other light the room had to offer. She rose to her waist and sat pondering what had just happened. She appeared to have been changed during her time knocked out as she was wearing a green hospital gown over her bra and was given a pair of very unfashionable white shorts. Nami almost puked at the thought of some perverted stranger touching her body and then picking out these horrible clothes for her to wear. She pushed the curtain beside only to reveal a pair of eyes far away. She quickly pulled them back in fright.

Her eyes still had trouble adjusting. She tried moving the curtains again. The blank eyes seem to come closer to her. Eventually she made out a body and broke into a cold sweat. A pair of hands disappeared behind the figure and slowly began to come around revealing some kind of object.

Nami finally screamed and tossed her pillow at the figure. It backed away instantly into the corner.

"I-I'm sorry." It said in a low voice.

Nami's eyes were then able to focus completely. It was a young girl with white eyes.

"I…just wanted….to give this to you…to apologize." The girl said revealing a wrapped box.

"Apologize for what?" Nami said unable to recognize the girl.

"I'm…the reason you're in the hospital." She answered.

"Oh you're the one who did that sneak attack. Well, you and the other guy." Nami finally remembered.

"Yes, Neji refused to come but I felt guilty, I mean if you guys really were just lost and we made it difficult for you. I'm sorry." She said.

Nami got out of her bed and accepted the package from the young girl.

She opened the box and pulled out a large purple Kimono. It had a floral design and was very conservative.

Nami sighed as she tried to put on the concealing garment. It was a bit loose on her, but otherwise completely covered the young girl. But the length and weight of the garment also had an air of age to it, and made Nami feel a couple of years older…too much older for her liking.

"It was the best I could put together on such short notice. But I hope you like it." The young girl said bowing her head.

"Sorry it's not really my style." Nami honestly replied. A cloud appeared over the girls head.

"But I'm sure my friend would like this a lot, it's very well made." Nami heartened.

"I'm sorry I didn't even introduce myself. My name is Hinata Hyuuga." The girl said bowing once again.

"Hinata huh?" Nami said looking at the gloomy girl. "Well you did really do a number on me." She thought for a moment.

"Tell you what, if you really want to apologize, you can help me find something more to my taste. And maybe you can pick up something for yourself." Nami said with a smile.

Hinata picked her head up, and smiled.

"You want to know about the portal, right Lord Hokage." Anko said having entered the room.

"Yes." Tsunade replied.

"Well since you called me I'm sure you've figured out it's one of Orochimaru's jutsu." Anko began.

"Orochimaru? What are you talking about?" Luffy asked.

"The light you and your crew went through was a jutsu. It's a summoning, developed by a man called Orochimaru."

"Wow I didn't know ninja's could do that. That's so awesome!" Luffy said excited. "Ah wait, so we really have been transported to a whole new universe!"

"That's right. I even remember the name of the technique. Summoning: Impure World Dividing Walls of the Outer Realm." Anko continued.

"So this Orochimaru guy summoned us here. But what does he want with us?" Usopp asked.

"Well actually. I doubt it was Orochimaru and I also doubt whoever used it was trying to get to you guys." Anko replied. "Unless of course you guys come from, the land of the dead…"

"Of course not." Usopp replied.

"Although in a way one of us…" Chopper said thinking of Brook.

"Where am I?" Sanji said waking up in a huff. "Nami-san! Where are you? None of these shitty bastards hurt you did they?"

"Calm down your friend is fine." Tsunade reassured him. Sanji then took a look at her.

"Oh my, the legends are true. There are women in the world, who can achieve this level!"

He watch as her marshmallows bounced just with her breathing. He then noticed everyone in the room.

"My sweet Robin-Chwan! A mysteriously captivating woman in lingerie! A modest cutie-Chan in the corner! A girl with a burning fist of passion!" He said feasting his eyes on the entrée's in view. He then noticed Sakura. "Even if she is lacking in other areas." He muttered to himself.

"What did he say?" Sakura said now enraged.

"This guy even more perverted than the pervy sage." Naruto said. He then had an idea.

"Hey curly brow! Check this out!" Naruto said. He created a clone covered in smoke.

"What you said you…" Sanji stopped

When it cleared a beautiful naked woman awaited Sanji's line of sight.

"_**SEXY JUTSU!" **_

"Ah! Mellorine!" He said blood dripping from his nose.

Luffy completely lost himself with laughter.

* * *

"Ok so we're in some other world then, right." Sanji said as he lit a cigarette. His face was covered in blisters and bruises.

"Yea and we got brought here by some kind of jutsu made by a weird guy called Orochimaru." Luffy said also beaten and bloodied.

"Sorry Sakura-Chan…but why so hard?" Naruto said, bruised and missing some teeth.

"HEY! WHY THE HELL DID I GET BEAT UP?" Usopp said with lumps on his face and a broken limp nose.

"Orochimaru had been trying to develop a technique to make a path straight into the next world" Anko began to explain, returning the serous mood of the discussion.

"He thought he'd truly be immortal if he could discover travel between the world of the living and dead. He based it of the 2nd's Impure World Resurrection jutsu. Countless lives were sacrificed in experiments to create this technique but it was never perfected at least as far as I had seen."

"This Orochimaru guy sounds really sick." Chopper said with a chill down his spine.

"But I doubt it was him, since last I heard Sasuke Uchiha had slain Orochimaru before joining the Akatsuki."

All the ninja in the room were taken slightly aback by the sound of that name. Naruto held an angered but stern look on his face.

"Now there's another guy, this is too much for my brain." Luffy sulked.

"It's been a while since that happened, and Sasuke has made his plans to destroy Konoha clear just like his sensei."

Naruto's eyes had widened in anger.

"I wouldn't put it past him to have taken Orochimaru's research in an attempt to finish the jutsu himself."

Naruto slammed his hands against the desk.

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" he said.

The room grew silent for a moment. Chopper hid behind Usopp, protruding out to the side where everyone could still see him.

"Naruto you can't…" Kakashi began.

"I know. Sasuke is hell bent on destroying Konoha. I even know why he wants to." Naruto began. "So that's why…that's why I know he wouldn't resort to using Orochimaru's methods to fight us. He'd come by himself in his own way!"

The room was quiet for a moment.

"He'd be a fool to do that!" Anko spoke out. "Think about it. With an undead army he'd be unstoppable against us. He was one of our most intelligent students and he spent a great deal of time with Orochimaru."

"What do you even know about him? What he's been through!" Naruto questioned grinding his teeth.

"Not much. But I know firsthand what that psycho Orochimaru can do to people!" Anko retorted.

Naruto took a step back upon hearing this. He then turned to his teammates.

"Sakura, Kakashi you guys were there, you know Sasuke wouldn't resort to that right?"

"Well…we should at least consider the possibility. We have no other leads." Sakura said.

Naruto took a few steps back surprised at the answer.

"Naruto didn't you say you had your answer? You have to understand by now Sasuke is dangerous." Kakashi said.

He then clenched his fist and ran out of the room.

"What's he getting so worked up about. Who is this Sasuke guy?" Luffy asked.

Kakashi sighed.

"He used to be a ninja student at the academy here and was a part of my squad. He was also Naruto's best friend." Kakashi explained. "Some….things happened and he defected to study with Orochimaru."

"You mean the massacre of the Uchiha clan?" Robin spoke for the first time the whole conversation.

"What…how did you?" Kakashi asked surprised.

"When we were walking here I notice a section of the village that seemed older and somewhat abandoned. I noticed a symbol on one of the houses there." Robin explained. "When we got here I saw a book in the library with the same symbol and decided to read a little bit. This clan seems to have a big history in with the village."

The ninja felt tense.

"Oh Robin-Chan, you're so amazingly gifted with intelligence and beauty!" Sanji said in awe.

"AHHHH all this explaining and I still don't know what's going on. How do we get back to the Grand Line?" Luffy said frustrated. "Do we just jump back through the hole?"

"I'm sorry it's not that easy. Like I said the jutsu is not perfected. That light in the sky can only bring things in to this world it can't take things out. I can't say I know how to make it do the opposite." Anko explained.

"Then I suppose we'd get our answers by finding this Sasuke Uchiha." Robin suggested.

"That would be my best bet." Anko said.

"Can you take us to where he is?" Usopp asked.

"No, and even if I could I have things I need to attend to, Lord Hokage if you would."

"Yes you're dismissed." Tsunade said. With that Anko left.

"Ok so we just find this Sasuke Uchiha guy, bring him back here and have him fix the portal." Luffy said as he pounded his fist into his hand. He then ran out of the room.

"WAIT!" Tsunade tried to call after him. "You don't even know where to look…"

"It's ok, I'll help Luffy. I think what I've read will be of some use." Robin said as she left the room.

"Be careful if you go out seeking Sasuke. I'm sure you read about his clans bloodline limit, the Sharingan!" Tsunade said. "He can use powerful eye jutsu. Be on your guard."

Robin hand-waved back as she left the room.

"AH jutsu! Lady Tsunade!" Chopper said as he approached the desk. "I've been meaning to ask you, that technique you used to heal my friend.

"Yes, what about it?" she asked.

Chopper then got on his knees. "PLEASE TEACH IT TO ME!" he begged.

Tsunade took a moment. "Why would a creature like you want to learn medical jutsu?

"It's a long story, but my dream is to be the best doctor in the world. I've found herbs, created drugs and used techniques the world over…well my world." He began. "But I've never seen a technique that can heal people that fast or that completely! You have to show me, I beg of you!"

"Well in order to use jutsu you need to be able to form seals, and you don't even have hands." Tsunade said.

Chopper instantly changed to heavy point to the shock of everyone in the room.

"These hands will do right?"

Tsunade could feel the aspiration radiating off the little reindeer. There she was, lord Hokage of the most ancient and powerful nation in the ninja world, trying to reason with a transforming tanu…reindeer. She thought about it for a while focusing on Chopper's eyes.

"Sakura."

"Yes Lady Tsunade."

"Take him to the 12th training ground."

"You mean…"

"I couldn't forgive myself if I held back someone's dream." She smiled.

Chopper beamed and cheered. He transformed back into brain point.

Sakura escorted him out of the office.

"So Lady Tsunade is it?" Sanji said. "Such a tender delicate name from such a lovely woman, who carries so much on her shoulders. I m Sanji the best damn chef on the seas. Perhaps during my time here I could prepare a dinner for two under the majesty of the moonlit sky."

"Oh well aren't you a gentleman." Tsunade said with a smile. "If you want to help me…"

Sanji shined a perverted smile.

"You can…"

Sanji came in closer.

"By…"

Tsunade grabbed him by the tie. Sanji could barely contain his excitement.

"GETTING THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Tsunade said as she tossed him out the window.

"Maybe I should watch him. If he starts wandering around it could cause another situation in the village." Kakashi said. He jumped out of the fresh hole in the glass.

"Yea I guess I should be going too…ah!" Usopp stopped in his tracks. "I almost forgot something!"

"Hm?" Tsunade gave a look of interest.

"Our crewmember Brook! He was the skeleton that ran away. We need to get him back here if when we go back through the portal.

"I see…" Tsunade said.

* * *

Luffy ran out of the building in a hurry.

"Right find this Sasuke guy." He said running in place. He looked at the area around him hoping Sasuke would pop up somewhere. Realizing this was fruitless he ran out the gate of the academy.

"SASUKE!" He yelled to anyone who'd listened.

"Oh right. She said he defected right? Damn it now how am I gonna get out of here." Luffy said wondering where to go from there.

"Hey!" A voice said.

Luffy turned to see Naruto jumping off the academy building.

"I was listening in on the rest of the conversation. So you want to find Sasuke now right?" Naruto said.

"Yea." He replied. "AH that's right you were his best friend! So you can help me find him right!" Luffy said excitedly.

"You dumbass if I could just find him like that he'd be here right now!" Naruto said. "I've tried to bring him back a thousand times already but he keeps getting away."

"Ah that's right I've been meaning to ask." Luffy remembered. "If Sasuke left to go beat up some guy why didn't you go with him? Are you weak or something?"

"Of course not! It's more complicated than that!" Naruto said offended. "It was a personal fight. He swore he'd do it on his own. I wouldn't have gotten involved but he went to…him for that power, and I didn't want him to become his pawn."

"Who that Orochimaru guy huh, sounds like a real ass." Luffy said.

"Well that's a word for him, he was definitely insane." Naruto said.

"So if you found Sasuke once you can find him again! You can't give up on your friends!" Luffy said.

"Of course I wouldn't. I've just...decided to try another way." Naruto said.

"You're not making any sense." Luffy said confused. "But anyway you got to help me; I don't know how to find this guy on my own." Luffy begged.

"Wait so you really are gonna go after him? Even after hearing all that?" Naruto said.

"I don't have any other choice, besides if he's your friend then you can probably talk him into helping me." Luffy said with an ignorant but confident smile.

"You don't know anything about him though, anything about this place." Naruto said.

"I don't care, me and my crew need to get back to the Grand Line, no matter what it takes I will become King of the Pirates!" Luffy said. "Besides I'm stronger than I look! If anyone gives me trouble I'll kick their ass with a Gum-gum pistol!"

"Yea I've been meaning to ask. What kind of Kekkei Genkai is that that makes you all rubbery?" Naruto asked pulling on Luffy's face.

"Hey stop that." Luffy said as he stretched back. "This isn't some kind of ninjutsu; I got this from eating the Gum Gum Fruit. I'm a rubber man."

"Rubber man…your world sounds pretty cool." Naruto said.

"Yea, I've had a lot of adventures sailing with my crew." Luffy said.

Naruto began to think.

"Listen. Last time me and Sasuke met, it wasn't on such good terms. But if you're going to go look for him anyway than I pretty much have no choice but to go with you."

"Really!?" Luffy cheered. "Yes! This is great!" Suddenly a loud noise rumbled. Luffy held his stomach.

"Oh man, I just realized I haven't eaten a thing since I got here."

"Come with me we can get some Ichiraku Ramen and go over how we're going to find Sasuke." Naruto said.

"Excuse me, I hope you don't mind if I join this little expedition." Robin said approaching the two boys.

"Yeah, Robin you wanna explore this world too?" Luffy asked.

"Weren't you trying to get back home?" Naruto said a little confused.

"This world seems to have a lot of history to it. I suppose I can't help myself to want to learn it." Robin said.

"Well that'll be fine; we're going to need a team to track Sasuke down anyway." Naruto said.

"Alright let's go get some beef Ramen! I'm starved!" Luffy said.

Naruto smiled, in a way he hadn't in a while. It was genuine happiness, like how he felt when he first made his dream of becoming Hokage.

"What a weird guy." He muttered to himself as they walked under the mysterious light towards the Ichiraku ramen.


	5. The Journey Beginspt1

Chapter 5: The Journey Begins! Facing the Past with a Renewed Future!

Things had finally begun to settle down in the village. The ANBU made an announcement that the pirate threat had been dealt with and that they were to be monitored throughout their stay in the village. The enormous light remained in the sky, still attracting attention despite the ANBU trying to keep people away from it. Stores reopened, and the day returned to as normal as it possibly could.

The Sunny was moved to right outside the town gate. He was damaged from the fall but his keel was miraculously unscathed. His smile still radiated in the sun, a complete contrast to his condition. It was as if he knew how lucky he was. Zoro slept on the warmth of the deck. It was about the only thing not untouched in the fall. Franky had just come out of the interior with a huge bottle of cola looking tired.

"Well he ain't hurt too bad, a couple of replaced beams here and there and he should be ready to set sale." Franky said.

"This is quite an impressive vessel you have here." Yamato said sitting on a small rock next to the ship.

"Yes this is the THOUSAND SUNNY, The SUPER ship that'll sail the entire Grand Line!" Franky replied. He then took a large swig of cola.

Yamato got up and walked to the ship.

"This must be some strong wood." He said knocking on it. "Any other kind of ship would be annihilated by that fall.

Franky had himself a nice belch.

"Well you see. This is the ship with the will of a thousand dreamers built from wood from the treasure tree Adam. It'll take more than that to stop this king of the seas."

"It must be a rare kind of tree." Yamato said once again inspecting the ship. He then noticed the doors on the sides.

"What are these gates for?" He asked.

"Ah those are the Sunny's Soldier Docking!" Franky said. "Each channel holds one of my powerful creations. "The White Rocking Horse 1! The Brachio Tank 5! Or my favorite…" Franky said excited. He then released the fourth channel.

"The Black Rhino FR-U!" Franky cheered his own inventions.

"Really I have never seen anything like this." Yamato said impressed by the machine. "This technology, it seems very futuristic."

"Yes well you see…" Franky began his story.

"STOP RIGHT THERE INVADERS!" A high pitched voice said.

Not far off, stood three children.

"If my grandfather was still running things, he wouldn't let ruthless invaders like you run freely in the village!" The one in the center said. "I, Konohamaru Sarutobi won't allow it!"

"Then why did you run away when they first started fighting?" the girl by his side asked.

"Shhhhh! They don't need to know that." Konohamaru tried to shush her. "They were a whole group that time now there's only one of them here, if we work together we can take him out! I've been practicing some strong jutsu."

"Are you prepared to face your demise?" Konohamaru said confidently pointing towards Franky.

"It's Wapolsteel the strongest metal ever discovered! I spent days working…" Franky continued explaining to Yamato.

"HEY DON'T IGNORE ME!" Konohamaru yelled.

"That's it Moegi, Udon let's take this bastard down!" He then realized he was missing one of his friends.

"Udon?"

Udon stood with a sparkle in his eye at the motorcycle before him. He climbed atop the huge device, after almost falling off in his attempt. He felt like a king once he landed in the seat.

"UDON!" Konohamaru yelled.

"GET OUT OF THAT YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT DOES!" Moegi warned.

Franky then turned around to see someone tampering with his machine.

"HEY DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Franky said enraged.

Udon pressed a button and the device burst with electricity. It shot straight forward in a chaotic mad dash. It spun uncontrollable and returned to its original position and finally burst into flames.

"AH! BLACK RHINO!" Franky said mortified at the fire.

"UDON!" The kids screamed.

Udon fell off the bike, scorched and confused.

Yamato quickly rushed to the young boy's aid.

"You weirdo! What did your stupid machine do to Udon?" Konohamaru asked.

"He wrecked my Black Rhino!" Franky declared. "You SUPER punks!"

"It seems a lot has happened while I've been gone." An effeminate looking boy said walking up to the damaged bike witnessing what just took place.

"Huh? Oh Sai." Yamato said recognizing the youth.

"I suppose I should ask who this is." Sai said.

"That's Franky one of our new uhm…guest in the village."

"Franky. That's an odd name for an odd...creature." Sai said.

Franky missed the comment as he was still arguing with the children.

"Where have you been?" Yamato asked.

"Lady Tsunade sent me off with a team to relay information to the Suna about the Akatsuki." Sai explained. "Apparently following Uchiha Sasuke's attack at the Hokage summit they've made there presence known."

"Right. Well you missed the arrival of our strange invaders."

"HEY! You guys owe me a new bike, and some repairs for my ship." Franky said holding Konohamaru.

"Put him down you pervert-icon!" Moegi said ineffectively hitting the cyborg.

"Unfortunately I don't know if we have the materials to repair your machines here in Konoha. But as for your ship." Yamato said.

He then clasped his hands together.

"_**WOOD STYLE: NATIVITY OF THE TREES!" **_

Suddenly two large trees began to grow from the ground. In a few moments they were complete.

Franky was amazed by the jutsu. The commotion woke Zoro from his nap.

"The wood from these trees should be just as hard as what was used on your ship, if anything stronger." Yamato assured. "The only problem for you now is how you're going to cut them down."

"What's all this now? You're interrupting my nap." Zoro said looking over the banister.

The children felt a chill just by his presence.

"Who's that?" Moegi asked.

"Hey Zoro! You're just in time!" Franky said tossing Konohamaru aside.

"A friend of his?" Konohamaru said with a gulp. "I-I didn't know there was another one here."

"I just got some wood here to fix the Sunny. Think you can cut them up into some boards for me?" Franky asked.

"I'M A SWORDSMAN NOT A CARPENTER!" Zoro yelled.

The kids shuttered at the sound of his demonic temper. "But fine. Anything to get some sleep and get going."

Udon slowly came too. "What's going on?"

Zoro then disappeared. The kids kept looking around trying to find him. The then saw him land right in front of the trees.

"_**SANTORYU…"**_

In a flash he had he jumped cutting the trees from side to side.

"_**DAIBUTSU CUT!" **_

The trees began to split into large blocks.

Zoro then faced the falling lumber from the other side.

"_**SANTORYU OUGI!"**_

"Ah! He's not finished!" Moegi said terrified.

"_**CROSSING OF SIX PATHS!" **_

Zoro once again disappeared this time appearing on the opposite ends of the tree. Each block then split into six even cut sheets of wood. It all fell to the ground organized.

Everyone stared mouth agape at the event. Only Franky kept a casual look.

"Thanks Zoro!"

"Yes just don't bother me until we know how we're getting out of here."

Konohamaru took another big gulp.

(That…was…so) He thought to himself (badass!)

* * *

Naruto, Luffy and Robin were enjoying a nice meal under the roof of the Ichiraku Ramen shop. The warmth of the steam was relaxing on the recently tired bones of the fighters and the smell was just intoxicating. Naruto couldn't help but ask what the world of the straw hats was like. Luffy was more than happy to share the stories of what they had been through since the beginning of their incredible journey.

"Wow! Really!" Naruto said in excitement.

"Yea it was as big as a mountain and blocked out the sky!" Luffy said trying his best to convey the size with his arms.

"I heard whales where big but to cover the sky. This Grand Line sounds like a really weird place." Naruto said. "So what happened after the whale saw you did it eat you?"

"Oh yea but we got out of there in no time." Luffy assured.

"And that was only the beginning of our journey through the Grand Line. We've met giants, travelled through the desert, fought a god in the sky and even battled against zombies." Luffy said. "More please."

"But that was your 20th serving!" The ramen guy said. "If you guys really are pirates I hope you have enough treasure to pay for this."

"Shishishishi." Luffy laughed as the man took his bowl away.

"Oh boy, if I hadn't been there I'd swear I was listening to one of Ussop's stories." A familiar voice asked.

"Well it looks like you've come to join us Sanji-kun." Robin said.

Sanji approached as well as Kakashi.

"Hey Sanji! You got to make this meat stuffed Ramen some time! It's got all the food groups. Beef, pork, chicken, lamb, meat, it's all here!"

"Well actually that's part of why I'm here." Sanji said lighting a cigarette. "The Cyclops here is trying to get me to work here at the ramen shop." He sighed.

"Really Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Well he said he was a cook, so I felt it'd be better to keep him occupied cooking rather than harassing the Hokage." Kakashi explained.

"Harassing! You just want to keep me from my dream. So many beautiful fierce women in this village and I'm stopped by a man so shunned by women he has to hide his face!" Sanji retorted.

"Hey hey, now don't get mad at me. Besides you remember our agreement don't you?" Kakashi said suspiciously.

Sanji then paused for a moment.

* * *

(How dare you stand in the way of my dream! A woman like this is only spoken of in legend)

(Calm down, if you think she is legendary. I can show you a world where women like her are the common ones. Take a look at this.)

(Ah! This book…can it be holier…than even the bible?)

(This is only the first volume; I can get you the whole series as long as you listen to me)

* * *

He then gave his most perverted look ever. He quickly refocused.

"Right. But that's the only reason! I'm even considering doing this." Sanji said.

Luffy and Naruto looked confused.

"You wouldn't mind if he helped out around here would you? I mean just until they return to their world." Kakashi asked.

"I suppose an extra hand wouldn't hurt. I'm more concerned if the boy has the skills." The ramen guy said.

His daughter Ayame giggled.

"What did you say?" Sanji said with a fierce look in his eye.

He walked into the shop and took a look at his new lab. In a few moments he was grabbing dough and heating water. He grabbed a knife and began slicing his freshly pressed dough. His hands moved so fast it was difficult to keep up with. Soon the noodles boiled in a pot with all kinds of vegetables, meats and spices. There was then a moment of silence as his creation simmered.

"Alright you old geezer, try this." He said handing the ramen guy a bowl.

He hesitantly took the dish and took a taste. He dropped the bowl in shock. IT would have been crushed into a thousand pieces had Robin not caught it with a bloomed hand. She then put it atop the counter.

"This…this is…"

He then looked at all of his spices and began studying them. Ayame took the bowl and tasted it as well.

"Hey Sanji I wanna try some." Luffy said eagerly.

Three more bowls came out and Robin, Luffy and Naruto partook. In a moment everyone had the same look of both pleasure and astonishment.

"Delicious!" They all said in unison.

"How…how long have you been making Ramen?" The ramen guy asked desperate for the answer.

"To be honest…this is actually only my second shot at cooking ramen." Sanji said. "Actually it's the first time I'm making it for human consumption.

"Hm?" Kakashi murmured a bit bewildered at the comment but no one else seemed to notice

"You-you got lucky you must have I've been using these for years and never gotten a batch like this." The ramen guy said. "What's your secret?"

"What no way! I'll help out the restaurant, but a chef doesn't just give up his recipes that easily." Sanji barked.

"Please, Sanji-san! You must tell us, how you made this ramen, I don't think anyone in our many generations of ramen makers has made a batch this good." Ayame begged. "It would mean so much to me and my father if you would help us." Ayame said.

Without hesitation Sanji bent down on one knee.

"What kind of monster would I be if I turned down a request from a young woman to help her father?" Sanji said poetically.

"Just like that?" Luffy, Naruto and Kakashi said at the same time. Robin giggled at the chivalrous gesture.

"Oh my thank you! You're such a gentleman!" said Ayame flattered at his new found humbleness.

"You'll find there are few things I wouldn't do when ask by a lovely lady." Sanji said rising to his feet looking straight in her eye.

Ayame blushed in embarrassment.

"HEY YOU KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER, I DON'T CARE HOW DAMN GOOD YOUR RAMEN IS SHE WILL REMAIN PURE!" The ramen guy yelled. Everyone had a good laugh.

"Wow you guys are all so weird, and you're all a part of the same crew?" Naruto asked.

"Yup. You can say we're a family!" Luffy said. He then planted his face inside his bowl of ramen.

"Family huh…" Naruto said. He began thinking about his once lonely past and all his been through since.

"Well that's not surprising. From what I know, pirates often amass strongly bonded crews with dreams of finding treasure." Kakashi said.

"Treasure ain't the only thing on the seas to dream of." Sanji said, finally focusing on something other than women.

Kakashi looked somewhat surprised.

"Well, I suppose we all have our own dreams we wish to fulfill." Robin said.

Luffy finished stuffing his face with the ramen. "Yea! But we're all sure we're gonna find our dreams on the Grand Line."

"It sounds real nice to explore the world like that." Naruto said.

"It's pretty awesome." Luffy said. "So what's your dream?"

Naruto seemed somewhat surprised by the question. His expression changed into a lonely stare of a man on hard times. He first imagined himself in the Hokage gear, but then it got clouded with the image of Sasuke.

"Well…my dream is to become the Hokage…" Naruto said without changing his expression.

"Hokage?" Luffy wondered.

"In our world there are five great villages, each with a leader we call a Kage. We live in the village hidden in the leave in the fire nation, thus our leader is the Hokage, Lady Tsunade."

"You mean that lady with a target on her head?" Luffy said. "Wait you wanna be a lady?"

"NO OF COURSE NOT!" Naruto yelled. "I want to be the protector of this village one day, a ninja revered like no other."

"Well that sounds pretty awesome!" Luffy said.

"But there's something I have to do first, before I can fulfill that dream." Naruto continued. "I have to save a friend."

"Sasuke Uchiha?" Robin asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yea."

"Why do you have to save him? I thought he left on his own." Luffy asked.

"Well he did, but I don't think he knew what he was doing."

"You said he was your best friend right? What separated you two, if you don't mind me asking?" Robin said.

"It's kind of long; I don't wanna bore you with the details." Naruto said. "But he really wanted revenge for the death of his clan. So much so that he went to that freak Orochimaru for power to defeat him. What's worse was the guy who killed his clan was his own brother."

Luffy Robin and Sanji were surprised at the statement.

"I can't say I know why his brother did it, but it really changed him. I guess I wanted to save him from the loneliness he felt, because I knew what it was like to have no one." Naruto said with a little anger in his voice.

"What am I saying? I do still wanna save him!" Naruto said with a fist in the sky, seemingly forgetting everyone around him. "Even if I have to die to achieve that goal! Even if we have to fight, I'll remind him where he belongs, where he has a home!"

Everyone could only stare and admire Naruto's dedication. Luffy didn't seem to respond.

"Weren't we supposed to be discussing how we were going to find him?" Robin said.

Naruto instantly lost focus and broke into a cold sweat. "AHH! That's right. I shouldn't be wasting time telling you my dumb story you guys need to get…"

"I get it." Luffy said in an unusually serious tone.

Everyone's focus changed to him.

"If you can't protect one person, how can you call yourself a leader, right?" Luffy said.

Naruto was blown away. Only now did he realize what he sounded like when the words came from someone else's mouth.

"Yea." He said.

"Alright then it's settled, we're gonna save Sasuke." Luffy said to the surprise of everyone.

"Wh—WHAT?" Naruto yelled. "You-you don't have to do that, it's my dream and my burden, it's none of your concern!" He explained.

"Just because it's you dream and your burden doesn't mean you have to bear it alone." Luffy said.

"He's my responsibility! No one is helping Sasuke but me!"

"But that's what having a friend is all about, having someone who will fight for your dream too!"

"Friends?" Naruto said to himself.

"You said you'd help us anyway right? So that makes us friends."

"But we just met. All you need Sasuke for is to get back to your world let's just make that happen." Naruto urged.

"Of course, there's nothing I want more than to get back to going on adventures. But I couldn't just leave knowing there's something in the way of your dream." Luffy said.

"We're not even sure if Sasuke will tell us anything yet!"

"Well we're not gonna save him or get back to our world by waiting here."

"But you have nothing to do with this world! Nothing to do with me! Why would you risk getting back to your dream for me at all?"

"Because you're my friend." Luffy said with his famous smile.

Suddenly it was as if all of Naruto's memories flooded through his mind. All of the fighting he did to protect his friends. His own words and the people he changed and befriended. All the pain he felt trying to rescue Sasuke time and time again. Even the last words he said to Sasuke came back to him. Then this one guy, who knew nothing about him suddenly empathized so much with him, he'd fight for his dream and his happiness without question. Just the fact that someone like him could exist. It overwhelmed the young boy. No matter how much he tried to hold back, tears began falling down his face.

"Why…" He managed to choke out.

"Hey hey, no need to be so dramatic. Our captain is like this, he doesn't need a reason to help a friend. And as far as he's concerned, just knowing your dream makes you guys lifelong friends." Sanji explained.

A few moments of silence passed. Naruto couldn't contain it anymore. Naruto then broke out in hysterical tears, taking everyone aback.

"THANK YOU…SO MUCH!" He blurted out.

"Shishishishi." Luffy laughed. "No problem."

Everyone smiled as Naruto continued to bawl his eyes out. He eventually began to calm down. With the mission changed, so was everyone's spirit.

"Sorry to freak out like that…" Naruto said embarrassed. "Now we need to go over how we find Sasuke."

"I think I'll join you on this trip." Kakashi said.

"You are Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said. "But what about Curly Brow?"

"What'd you say?" Sanji said.

"I'll ask Guy to look over him for me. After all you're still a part of my team and I am responsible for you." Kakashi said.

"Hey don't treat me like a kid!" Naruto said. After a laugh, he explained what he had done in the past to find Sasuke and where he'd most likely be.

(It's amazing. For the first time, Naruto's found someone just as stubborn and willing to carry a burden as he is. He may even become closer to Naruto than even Sasuke was. Sometimes I wonder, is there such a thing as fate.) Kakashi thought to himself looking at his knuckleheaded student.


	6. The Journey Beginspt2

Chapter 6: Everyone Sets Off

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU GUYS CAN'T GO WITH ME!?" Usopp screamed outraged.

"Sorry Usopp, but the Sunny is in need of repairs, and my machines are gonna need some tech work too. Besides you handled yourself SUPER well today in the fight I'm sure you can handle anything out there." Franky said as he hammered in a replacement beam. Next to him was a pile of broken wood beams.

"Don't just blow off the danger like that! There's so much I don't know about this world!" Usopp whined. "If Luffy wasn't busy trying to find a way to get us out of here I'm sure he would go with me to find Brook. Then again knowing Luffy he'd probably find some kind of crazy path and get us killed."

"Oh quit your whining Usopp, if you're that scared I'll go get Brook back. He couldn't have run off that far." Zoro said now fully awake on the deck. He jumped down.

"Oh yeah Zoro, I knew you wouldn't let me…" Usopp then thought for a moment. (Wait a minute, Brook is already lost and knowing Zoro's poor sense of direction, we'd just end up by looking for two people in a crazy ninja world!")

"Uh actually never mind I just remembered uh Chopper was gonna go with me!" Usopp said.

"Fine. Suit yourself." Zoro said.

"You know if you need help finding your friend you may want to ask Kurenai and her squad to help you out. They're excellent trackers, I'd bet they can even find your zombie friend." Sai said.

(He says that sentence like its normal.) Yamato thought.

"Ah you think they'd help me? Thanks uhm what do they look like?" Usopp asked.

"Kurenai is a middle-aged pregnant woman in a white and red shirt that probably won't be of much use to you right now." Sai began.

"A little rude don't you think?" Usopp said.

"Kiba is the dog boy with a good nose. He's always walking around with his huge mutt called Akamaru, although I don't know why he calls him Akamaru when he's white. Then again he's kind of stupid."

"An idiot dog boy?" Usopp thought to himself. He imagined a slobbering half man half dog mutant and his idiotic looking canine companion.

Shino is the one in shades who covers his face with a hood. He lets bugs live inside him and feed off his chakra and in return they kill his enemies."

"Bugs…feed…kill?" Usopp said somewhat worried. He imagined a shadowy demon with large insects swarming around him.

"...He also keeps them around his penis." Sai added.

"I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!" Usopp said trying to burn the image out of his head.

"Lastly there's Hinata one of the Hyuuga born with the Byakugan. She'll be easy to recognize with her gothic aura and pale lifeless eyes that can see through just about anything."

"Anything?" Usopp imagined a pale spirit looking through his soul.

"These are the guys that are going to help me?" He said with tears in his eyes.

"Yes they are very good at what they do…by the way I've been meaning to ask."

"Hmm?"

"That thing on your face, is that where some people in your world keep their penis?" Sai asked.

"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT? OF COURSE NOT!" Usopp replied. "I'm getting out of here! Better find these weirdoes or else I'll be out there like a sitting duck." Usopp said to himself.

"Idiot." Zoro said as he watched him walk away. He then noticed the frightened children hiding behind the broken wood beam pile staring at him.

"What are you looking at?" He barked.

They cowered again farther behind the pile. Konohamaru stared into his only eye and felt chills run down his spine. Suddenly, as if a drug kicked in, that chill turned into a burning. Konohamaru could feel his legs start to move on their own as he stared deeper into the swordsmen's eye as like he knew what it was saying. He then burst from behind the pile, against the wishes of his friends.

"No Konohamaru! He'll kill you for sure!" Moegi said with tears in her eyes. Udon continued to try and remain hidden.

Konohamaru drew his kunai.

"I don't care who you are! I will protect this village from outsiders! I hope you're ready to fight for your life!" He said shaking hysterically

"Hey hey hey! Not around the Sunny!" Franky warned.

Zoro just stared at him. "Are you lost or something kid? Go play warrior somewhere else."

"Don't you dare brush me off like I'm nothing! I'm the man who will one day become Hokage like my Grandfather before me!" Konohamaru said enraged.

"Konohamaru these guys aren't…" Yamato began.

_**SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!**_

In an instant three clones appeared beside him. They immediately began charging Zoro. With each punch and kick they were easily evaded. The real Konohamaru threw a smoke ball. Smoke began to cover his clones and Zoro.

"Now!"

The four clones grabbed Zoro and tried to hold him down.

The real Konohamaru jumped into the air with kunai at the ready.

(Now I'll pierce his heart and end this quickly.) He thought assured of his plan.

He began dropping towards Zoro, kunai straight ahead in an attempt to mortally wound Zoro.

_**MUUTORYU...**_

Konohamaru looked surprised at what he saw next.

_**DRAGON TWISTER!**_

The clones were scattered and disappeared. The smoke also cleared. Now there was only one Konohamaru in plain sight. Zoro grabbed his arm before the Kunai could make impact.

"Why…Why didn't you use your swords samurai?" Konohamaru asked.

"I trained as a swordsman for only two reasons to serve my captain and defeat the greatest swordsman in the world; I honed my skills for that and that alone. I'm not going to waste time cutting down a brat with big talk. After all you wouldn't crush a cockroach with a sledgehammer would you?" Zoro explained.

"Cockroach huh?"

Soon the ground started to rumble underneath him. Zoro quickly took a step back and tossed Konohamaru aside when his clone burst from the ground with an uppercut.

"Ambitious little brat aren't you?" Zoro admired the attempt. The clone back flipped to his creator. The original stuck his palm out and the clone began swiping his hands around it."

"What this now?" Zoro said curious. "You're a couple years to early to face me kid, just give it up."

"Why don't you give up on me giving up!" Konohamaru said in anger. Suddenly a blue light began to appear in his palm. "If you think I'm such a cockroach then let's see you take this attack!"

The ball the solidified and the boy charged forward as fast as he could. "I AM KONOHAMARU SARUTOBI OF THE LEAF!" he shouted.

_**RASENGAN!**_

At the last minute Zoro pulled out one of his swords and challenged the attack. They clashed with a blinding spark. Zoro was surprised by the strength of the technique and was pushed back slightly. Konohamaru pushed with all his might hoping it would finally make contact. Unfortunately he pushed himself too hard and the ball was becoming difficult to keep stable. Zoro saw this as his chance. He grabbed his blade with two hands and with a firm swing sent the boy flying as the attack dissipated.

He fell into one of the stumps of the cut down trees. He rubbed his head in pain and a bump soon formed.

"Damn it!" he said in frustration. He then looked up and saw everyone's face of shock and worry. He then saw his adversary's unchanging death glare. He began to tear up but tried desperately to suck them in.

"Konohamaru. That was your name right." Zoro finally said.

"Yea that's right you bastard, are you gonna finish me off now or what? Stomp on the cockroach." Konohamaru asked frustrated with his loss.

"Konohamaru…" Moegi said.

Zoro then walked menacingly up to the young child. Konohamaru then stood up with arms extended.

"What are you doing?" Zoro asked surprised by his actions.

"Only a coward runs away. I may have lost but I'll lose with every ounce of my pride!" Konohamaru said. "Just know that there's no way this village will fall to anyone especially one eyed samurai freaks like you!"

Franky began to tear up. "Such pride for his village! What an amazing little scrapper!" He cried.

Zoro tried desperately to hold his expression but after a while he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"HAHAHA!" He continued to laugh much to the chagrin of his defeated foe. Tears appeared in his eyes, he couldn't contain it.

Soon Yamato and even Sai joined in.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" Konohamaru yelled with the full extent of his anger. Everyone finally began to calm down from their laughter.

"Konohamaru Sarutobi, I won't forget it." Zoro said slapping the boy on the back the head.

"OUCH! You big jerk!" Konohamaru said. "Start taking me seriously you bastard!" Konohamaru said.

"Trust me. I will from now on." Zoro said to his surprised.

"You made me draw my sword, after I had talked you down, and even with your loss you faced me like a man. Not many kids your age would have guts to do that. Or men for that manner." Zoro said. He then began walking back to the ship.

"I'll spare your life this time, as long as you promise me one thing. Don't ever lose that spirit. It's what separates men from boys." Zoro said.

Konohamaru only stared in amazement at what transpired. He couldn't describe the feeling that raced across his body.

"Just who are you anyway?" he finally asked.

Zoro stopped. "My name is Roronoa Zoro." He said facing the boy.

Konohamaru quickly wiped the tears in his eyes bore a smile of confidence.

"This reminds me of a song." Franky said pulling a guitar out of nowhere. "_TO BE A MAN IS NOT TO OWN EVERYTHING OR HAVE POWER WHAT MAKES A MAN IS HIS HEART AND AMBITION! OW!_

"Oh boy, I hope Usopp finds Brook soon." Zoro said as he lay beside the ship.

"Don't mock my passion!" Franky retorted.

* * *

"How does this one look?" Nami asked sporting a skimpy schoolgirl outfit. A plain white top barely covered her green bra. A miniscule blue skirt went no lower than her thighs

"It looks wonderful!" Hinata said.

"What about this?" Nami asked now in an exotic Kunoichi outfit. A leather indigo mini skirt rested atop the lingerie stockings across her legs. An Indigo leather strap zigzagged across her midsection cover her lingerie top which made a poor attempt to conceal her breast.

"It looks great as well." Hinata once again complimented.

"No no! If you say they all look good how am I supposed to know which one looks bad?" Nami said.

"But can't they all look good?" Hinata questioned.

"You can never be sure of that!" Nami assured.

"I'm sorry!" Hinata said quickly lowering her head.

"Hey hey, I'm not mad no need to apologize." Nami said bewildered at her actions. "Boy you really have some self-esteem issues. I think we should try getting you something to boost your spirits first."

"Oh I'm ok I like the clothes I'm wearing now." Hinata said.

"Come on every girl has to have something in her wardrobe that shows off what she has. The cuter you are the easier it is to get what you want." Nami explained.

Hinata pondered. "But I don't need too much." She eventually said.

"Come on there has to be something you want." Nami said.

Hinata then blushed and once again dropped her head. She began twiddling her fingers. "Something…"

"Hmmmm?" Nami hummed with a deviously curious smile. "Or maybe someone."

Hinata gasped shocked at the statement and took a few steps back.

"Ah I see you have some boy on your mind. You're really easy to read you know." Nami said.

"Well…" Hinata unintentionally confessed.

"Then we definitely need to get you a new wardrobe!" Nami said excited. "So what's his name?"

Hinata hesitated.

"Is it that guy with the long hair? What did you say his name was Neji?" Nami said

"NO. Oh no he's my cousin I would never." Hinata quickly explained.

"Naruto…his name is Naruto Uzumaki." Hinata feeling happier somehow just by saying the words.

"Naruto hmm. Funny that name kinda reminds me of a friend of mine."

"So who is that? It must be that guy who wears shades. The bugs are a little creepy don't you think?"

"No not him." Hinata said. "It's…"

"I'm gonna need more than this! Give me as much as you can stuff in this bag!" A voice said not too far away.

"Luffy, it's going to be difficult to travel carrying all that meat." A woman said.

Nami and Hinata could then see Luffy, Naruto, Robin and Kakashi at the barbeque shop. Luffy was desperately shoving meat in his pocket while Kakashi was trying to move things along.

"Don't hog it all!" Naruto said reaching for a bone in cut.

"Sir we can't give you all of that we'll run out!" The BBQ man said trying to save his precious cuts.

"Oh come on!" Luffy said upset.

"Don't worry Luffy I got this." Naruto said. He then performed his sexy jutsu.

"What if we can pay it all off somehow, huh big boy?" He said in his sexiest voice.

They were both then hit over the head by Kakashi.

"Hey, what gives Kakashi sensei?" Naruto angrily replied with a lump on his head, reverting back to his male form.

"Yea we're going to need all we can get if we're going on a long trip." Luffy said.

"We're wasting time; we need to get more than just food." Kakashi asked.

"Looks like Luffy has made some new friends already. Not surprisingly they're idiots." Nami sighed at the sight of the fools. Hinata then began blushing harder. Nami noticed and was surprised.

"No way!" Nami said to Hinata. "That kid…is Naruto?"

Hinata hesitated a little then nodded.

"Is he really the one you like?"

Hinata didn't move.

"What do you see in him?" Nami asked.

"It's hard to explain…but he inspires me." Hinata began. "It may not seem so now, but he was once hated by everyone in the village, and all he wanted was to be acknowledged. I felt so bad for him, but I was too scared to say anything to him." She started to get somewhat emotional.

"He fought so hard and trained to be respected by everyone, where I was so weak I couldn't even get the respect of my father. He has fought hard to protect the friends he's finally made and the village he loves, I just…wanted to be able to be that brave and strong."

"So he's more than meets the eye huh?" Nami said. "Guys like that are always something else." She said thinking of her own determined captain. "Well what have you tried so far?"

"He saved the entire village once." Hinata continued as if nothing was said.

Nami was taken aback.

"A powerful man came. He destroyed almost everything until Naruto came around. He fought for so long against him and even after his hard struggle, was almost defeated. He was all alone. I couldn't stand to see him fighting out there alone…so I went to help him…and I almost died."

Nami looked really shocked that the same dreary girl she had been around all day was telling such a personal story.

"There. It was there I told him, everything, about how I felt."

"If that's the case then, there's no way you guys can't be together yet." Nami said.

"Well I haven't talked to him since. He has a lot on his plate I don't want to frustrate him further, plus it was a spur of a moment thing. I'm sure he wouldn't want to waste his time with me." Hinata quickly explained suddenly embarrassed and in a huff.

"Well then how do you expect to get anywhere with him?" Nami said. "I'm sure after something like that he'd be a fool to not want you."

Hinata dropped her head lower than she ever had before not knowing what to do. "Besides, I don't know what I'd do if he did…"

"Look, I'll be honest you I don't understand the why you do things the way you do, but I can tell you'd be a wonderful girlfriend for him." Nami assured.

Hinata looked surprised by the comment and smiled a little. "Thank you, Nami-kun."

"Hey Hinata!" a voice suddenly rang.

Hinata turned around to see Naruto, and his new crew in front of her.

"Hey Nami! You're all better! Hey those are some cool ninja clothes!" Luffy said glad to see his friend alright.

"Hinata, its good you're here actually, I really wanted to talk to you about…" Naruto began.

"I'msorrybutIreallymustbegoinge xcuseme!" Hinata said as she bolted out of the shop.

Everyone looked bewildered at what just happened.

"Is she ok?" Robin asked.

"She's fine. She was just helping me find some clothes and just remembered she had something very important to do back home." Nami answered.

"It's ok you don't have to lie, I guess I'll just have to talk to her later." Naruto said chuckling to himself.

"Oh uh….So what are you guys doing here anyway. She told me this is some ninja village but that's about it." Nami said.

"Yea it turns out we got transported to an entirely different world by that light." Robin explained. "The Grand Line doesn't exist here."

"What! Oh great this is all your fault Luffy!" Nami yelled as she shook her captain.

"But lady target head said there's a guy somewhere out there who can help us get back and Naruto and Cyclops here are gonna help us find him." Luffy managed to say as he rocked back and forth.

"I have two eyes you know." Kakashi said.

"So that explains getting the meat, but why are you guys here?" Nami asked.

"Kakashi-kun thought it'd be best if we blended in with the people here which it appears you've already done." Robin said marveling at her outfit.

"Hey you wanna go with us Nami?" Luffy asked.

"No thanks! The people in this village are strange enough I don't want to see what kind of things are outside it." Nami said as she walked by the group.

"HEY LADY! Are you gonna pay for that or what?" The shopkeeper said with an impatient look in his eye.

"Uh…hold on! My friend is holding my wallet she just ran out, I'll go get her." Nami said as she made a run for it.

"Hey come back here!" The man said yelled.

"Man you guys are weird." Naruto said.

Robin noticed Nami left a box on the floor as she made a mad dash out.

"What's this?" she opened it.

* * *

"So you really think this sand place will have what I'm looking for?" Franky said packing his tools away.

"Yes, if there is anyplace I know that has technology with automatons, it's Sunagakure." Yamato said.

"But I doubt they'd come here to help fix your machines." Sai said. "Right now every nation is trying to focus on the defense of their borders. Especially with the disaster at the Hokage summit meeting and what happened to Danzo, no one wants to risk being involved with Konoha. And the whole deal with you being unknowns here wouldn't help either."

"So they're scared to come here huh? That sucks." Franky said.

"Well if they won't come here why don't we go there?" Zoro said. He finally got up and out of his nap.

"Are you crazy? I can't leave the Sunny unattended!" Franky said.

"I'll watch it don't worry no one's gonna do anything to it." Zoro said.

"Well even then I don't want the sunny to just be sitting out here where anyone can do what they want with it." Franky said.

"Relax. I don't mind protecting your ship." Yamato said.

_**WOOD STYLE: FOUR PILLAR PRISON**_

Suddenly immense pillars broke through the Earth and surrounded the Sunny.

"Whoa, what is that?" Franky said amazed.

"This cage is designed to hold even the strongest shinobi. No one gets in, no one gets out." Yamato explained. "It should keep your ship safe until you return.

"Why should we trust you guys? The first thing you did was attack us." Zoro said still, not completely trusting the ninja.

"If the Hokage says you guys are alright, then I trust her. Plus from what I've seen, you are good people, if not a bit odd. I'll find a better location to keep your ship."

"OW! Thanks Yamato-san!" Franky said giving thumbs up. "Now it's time to collect some SUPER parts!"

"Well have fun then, I'm gonna go get some booze." Zoro said.

"Hey, if you're not doing anything here, you should come along Zoro! I may need more hands to carry all the parts." Franky suggested.

"Don't you have four?" Zoro said. "I think I've had my fair share of the desert already."

"How do you plan on getting there? Do you know the way?" Sai asked.

"Ah...Hadn't thought of that." Franky said. "But you said you were there right? Why don't you show me the way?"

"I don't know, I just got back and the roads have seen an increasing number of dangerous ninja." Sai said.

Zoro's ears perked up.

"Our team had some trouble just getting back here, there are some powerful ninja sprouting up nowadays."

"Powerful warriors did you say?"

"Yes I've noticed a particular increase in swordsmen."

Zoro turned around. "Alright maybe I will join this little trip of yours."

"Now that's the spirit!" Franky cheered.

Upon hearing this Konohamaru stopped messing with the ruins of the bike.

"Well I suppose I would feel a bit better about taking you there if we had a team, and with you and the man-demon that would be three, so we need to make sure we have at least one medical ninja."

"Wait I want to go with you guys!" Konohamaru said.

"Oh you're still here?" Zoro said.

"That trip would be too dangerous for you Konohamaru, you have no idea what's on those roads." Yamato reprimanded.

"Oh come on, I'm gonna be Chunin soon anyway. I'm gonna have to get use to going on missions like this." Konohamaru argued. "And plus, I want to see, what these invaders can do. If I'm ever going to beat you, I'm gonna need to see what you can really do!" Konohamaru said looking straight at Zoro.

"Forget it, if you come I won't be able to fight to my fullest sine I'll be protecting you all day." Zoro said.

"Don't underestimate me just 'cause you won! I can handle myself!"

"I'll tell you what if you really wanna make yourself useful; go pick me up some booze. Gonna need it for the trip."

"Why you!"

"Konohamaru maybe we should listen to Yamato-Sensei." Moegi suggested. "I mean we're in more dangerous times than ever and I'm sure you want to be alive to become a Chunin."

"What you don't trust me either Moegi?" Konohamaru said appalled with his friend.

She couldn't look him in the eye.

"Fine, whatever I don't even care that much anyway!" Konohamaru said. He then ran off.

"Wait!" His two friends said as they chased him."

"Hey don't forget my booze you little brat!" Zoro said.

"Well then I guess you said we need to find a medic right?" Franky said.

"Excuse me." A voice said.

The four men looked up to see a young girl.

"Oh Sakura, what are you doing here?" Sai said recognizing her.

"Oh I just happened to be around and I overheard you guys need a medical ninja for your trip." Sakura said.

"Well yes." Sai said.

"You know I wouldn't mind going with you guys." She said with a shy smile.

"Wait a minute; weren't you tending to the wounded from the fight?" Yamato asked.

"Huh oh yea those people are all alright." She said starting to get a little tense. "Plus after the fight I feel a little pumped for some action."

"Doesn't seem like you Sakura." Sai said.

"Yea well you know what they say about girls, we can never make up our minds on what we want!" She said getting a little frustrated. "So can I go with you or not?"

They all thought for a minute.

"What are you guys thinking about, you said we needed a medic and we got one so let's get this show on the road." Zoro rushed everyone.

"Hahaha yes!" Sakura cheered. "I mean, I'm happy to help cha!"

(When was the last time Sakura said cha?) Yamato thought as he couldn't help but ponder the strange feeling he had.

* * *

"So this is the light you were talking about?" A tall man said. He had a toothpick and olive stuck to his face.

"Yes, Vice Admiral Vergo. We were in pursuit of the Strawhats when this light appeared and they disappeared through it." Tashigi replied.

They were among the 6 ships that now docked in the gulf where the mysterious light had first appeared. It was much clearer now, making it obvious they were in a mountainous terrain. Smoker was sitting on deck, still soaked after his fall in the water.

"Do we have any kind of idea what this light is and where it came from?" Vergo asked.

"No so far none of us are sure. We contacted G-11 which is nearby and knows the area well but they say they've never heard of or experienced anything like this." Tashigi answered. "Some of us even think the Strawhats have found some new ability to transport."

"Run it by me again as to why we're wasting time sitting around here when the portal is still in front of us?" Smoker said. "I don't know why they called you in here Vergo but my men and I have this covered."

"I'm sorry Smoker-san. I'm just following procedure and if I'm not mistaken these were my men far before they were yours." Vergo replied. "I don't mean to question your judgment, but it is still my responsibility to watch over all of the G-5 units. How do we know it didn't just incinerate the Strawhats?"

"We thought about that and searched for bodies or some burned wood but we came up with nothing. They appear to have truly vanished with the only trace being this light."

Vergo pondered for a moment. He began scratching the spot where the toothpick was. "You said you already contacted G-11 right?"

"Yes Vergo-san." Tashigi said.

"And you mentioned Straw Hat was involved?"

Tashigi nodded.

"Then your orders are to wait here for the arrival of the G-11 unit. The fleet commander had just recently come there for a conference concerning the missing children rumors that have been spreading around. He'll definitely want to take a look at this." Vergo said.

A wave of terror spread among the marines on board.

"Fleet Admiral Akainu?" A Tashigi said with a chill down her spine.

"WHAT!?" Smoker immediately shouted. "I'm already tolerating your presence here Vergo! If you expect me to let that psycho you call Fleet Admiral to come in and complicate this hunt, you got another thing coming.

"I'm sorry Smoker-san, but this can be much more dangerous than you know. If pirates are finding ways like this to escape the marines we'll be in a lot of trouble on the seas. It's for the best that the higher ups get to the bottom of this while we can continue or duty to protect these seas. I hope you understand." He said scratching harder than ever.

"Uh Vice-Admiral Vergo…" A marine said.

"Hmm?"

"Were you drinking a martini before you got here?"

"Why yes I was. But how did you know?"

"You're scratching an olive toothpick stuck to your face."

Vergo finally plucked off the stick. "Ah there it is. I would have figured I would have gotten it off when I shaved today. "He pondered as he ate the olive.

"But it doesn't look like you shaved either." The same marine said.

"Ah right I didn't shave." He replied deadpan. "At any rate we can spend the time until the Fleet admiral gets here by preparing ourselves for whatever decision he makes." He said as he walked inside.

"Are we really going to let that dumbass take over here?" Smoker said.

"Remember Smoker-san, he _is_ the leader of G-5. I know you don't trust him but he is a good man, I know." Tashigi said as she walked up to him.

"Even if that crap were true, now it's not him I'm worried about." Smoker said thinking of the inevitable interference from Akainu.

Meanwhile inside the main room.

"Joker." Vergo said through a transponder snail.

"What is it Vergo? I hope you have good news." A voice replied.

"It appears the Strawhats have really returned and they are already in the New World." Vergo said.

"Ah so the crazy Straw Hat kid managed to survive this long on the Grand Line. I hope that's not all you have to tell me otherwise you've wasted my time."

"Well it appears that he may have discovered some new way of travel, it's created a portal here which they used to escape my unit."

"Fufufufu, now that sounds more interesting, do we have any details on this ability?"

"For right now, no and the Fleet Admiral himself is coming soon to investigate it. White Hunter is also giving me problems."

"Well then, it's of none of my interest until we know it's something we can use. If you want to look into it, then by all means do what you think is best, as for the Magma blowhard and white hunter, don't interfere with either one of them for now. At best Akainu will find and kill the Strawhats leaving you and your team to recover whatever information they have on the portal. White Hunter is a wildcard but he won't be a threat to you and is not worth killing."

"Affirmative Joker."

"Remember your image as vice-admiral is your greatest asset to me right now, if you lose that then I'm afraid our entire operation may fall and someone will have to be punished won't they."

"…Yes Joker."

"Gacha." The transponder snail clicked off.

* * *

"Ok…I think I'm far enough now." Nami panted inside a pot. She noticed some people staring at her and hopped out immediately.

(I didn't see Hinata anywhere. If I don't find her I'm gonna be spending the rest of my time here running from that shop owner.) Nami thought to herself. "HINATA!" She called as she began searching her surroundings.

She was by the academy now.

"HINA- oh."

She finally found the girl alone on a swing.

"There you are! I got into a lot of trouble because you ran off like that." Nami said somewhat frustrated.

"Oh I'm so sorry. I just didn't know what else to do and I didn't want to faint..." Hinata said.

"Eh it's alright as a pirate you get use to running from people." Nami said. She took a seat on the swing beside her.

"So you guys are actually pirates." Hinata said with a glimmer in her eye.

"Yea, we've been on a pretty crazy journey and seen some amazing things. Now that I think about it, it doesn't surprise me something like this could have happened to us." Nami said.

"You know it may sound weird, but when I was much younger, I actually had dreams of going off to a faraway place." Hinata said. "It would always start with me drifting away on this small boat, until I suddenly sprouted wings. Then I'd land on this far away island where I could be as free as I wanted to be and do whatever I wanted."

"You mean you don't want to be a ninja, it sounds so cool though." Nami said.

"Well I enjoy being able to help and protect people, but a lot is expected of me, since I'm of the main branch in my clan. I'm expected to be the strongest of my people, and I want to get stronger. But sometimes, I think I would like to settle somewhere and live like normal people do with a family." Hinata said. "I hope that didn't come off as weird or showy."

Nami looked puzzled for a moment and then started to laugh. "It's not weird at all."

"You know, you can always be free; you just have to let open the door for yourself." Nami said. "My captain taught me that. He can be a real moron at times, but I always know there won't ever be a dull moment with him around."

"You're right. I guess sometimes I do feel imprisoned by my own fears. I wish I could be as free as you." Hinata said. She immediately covered her mouth. "I'm sorry I didn't mean for that to sound weird."

"Geez there's no helping you is there?" Nami sighed. She then chuckled to herself a bit remembering her own past of being a slave and withheld from her dreams.

"You didn't seem to have fear when you help that Naruto guy." Nami said.

Hinata gasped and thought for a moment.

Nami got off the swing.

"Come on." Nami said.

"Where are we going?" Hinata said as she too got off the swing.

"We're going to make sure that when Naruto gets back, you'll be ready to stand right beside him. So you don't have to be imprisoned by your fear ever again." Nami said with a smile.

"HEEEY! NAMI!" A voice called.

"Oh is that you Usopp?" Nami said recognizing the unmistakable nose.

"Yea! It looks like your wounds are all healed already. That's good." Usopp said.

"What are you doing here?" Nami asked. "I figured you would be with Luffy by now."

"Well Brook hasn't come back to the village, so I decided to bravely go out and search for him." Usopp explained. "But the only problem is…everyone else is doing their own thing so I'd be going alone, not that I couldn't handle myself of course. It's just always better to travel in a group."

"Well forget about it, I already told Luffy I wasn't going out there." Nami said.

"Oh no, I wasn't looking for you, a guy told me I could find a team that would help me track Brook down." He said. "There's a bug guy, a dog guy, and a spirit girl and they've been a lot harder to find than you'd think." He paused for a moment. "…Why does it feel like someone's looking at my soul?" He then noticed Hinata's eyes.

"Ah! Spirit girl!" He exclaimed.

"Spirit…girl…" Hinata said hanging her head.

"Hey don't be rude. This is Hinata and she's not looking at your soul." Nami said.

"Ah my apologies, but I was told you could help me find my friend the skeleton that ran away." Usopp said.

"Skeleton running away?" Hinata said confused.

"It's a long story, but yes he's nothing but bones." Nami said.

"Well I'd love to help, but my Byakugan isn't much good for locating…dead bodies." Hinata said somewhat disgusted in the sentence,

"Besides she's busy right now!" Nami said. "You'll have to find someone else Usopp."

"What? But…" Usopp was unfortunately cut off.

"Let's go Hinata." Nami said.

"Uh, ok Nami-kun." Hinata said being dragged off.

"WHY DOES EVERYTHING ALWAYS GET LEFT UP TO ME?" Usopp, alone screamed out of frustration.

* * *

"AWITE! ROW DIS ISH AWSUM! (ALRIGHT! NOW THIS IS AWESOME!)" Luffy said as he emerged from the shop with a completely new outfit. He wore a tight red shirt that covered from his entire midsection all the way to a mask that covered his mouth. He had metal bands on his wrists. He changed his usual blue shorts to loose ninja pants. They were such a dark blue they were practically black. Finally his famous straw hat wore a Konoha ninja headband.

"Row I'm neven kruller den cold roder! (Now I'm even cooler than Gold Roger!). "I'm de frist priate nija! (I'm the first Pirate Ninja!" Luffy said with stars in his eyes. "I'm crapain of de staw hart Trinobi! (I'm captain of the Straw Hat Shinobi!)"

"Who said you could be the captain of this team!?" Naruto said enraged. "I'm the one who's gonna take us to Sasuke!"

"I must say this suits me very well." Robin said emerging with the same purple kimono Hinata had made with a pink sash. On her waist was her Konoha headband. It fit much better on her than Nami.

"Hey rasum Robin! Row ear reary seh. (Hey awesome Robin! Now we're really set.)" Luffy said.

"Alright if we're all set, then let's head out." Kakashi said.

"Right." Naruto said as he strapped up his backpack.

Everyone got their gear set up. They walked down Main Street towards the main gate. The light was still shining bright in the sky; there were police lines around the area directly beneath it. As they walked past it, the four warriors' aura seemed to shoot out in a blaze. They eventually reached the main gate where Franky, Zoro, Sakura, and Sai and Yamato were. They were also packing gear.

Luffy mumbled some more words much to everyone's confusion.

"Luffy it's hard to understand you with the mask. Plus it looks stupid." Zoro said. He now wore a headband around his arm, opposing his bandana.

Luffy then took it off. "Man it's really hard to talk with this thing on how do you do it?"

"Practice." Kakashi answered.

"Is that really how it works?" Robin asked.

"I said are you guys going on an adventure too?" Luffy said going over the unimportant question.

"Yea. The Sunny's Channels need some SUPER repairs. We're going to the next town over to get some supplies." Franky said now wearing a headband around his neck.

"Cool. We're gonna find a way to get back to the Grand Line." Luffy said.

"Hey Sakura, weren't you helping that Tanuki?" Naruto asked.

"Ah no Naruto I have no idea what you are talking about?" Sakura said scratching the back of her head suspiciously.

(Something is obviously wrong here.) Kakashi thought. (Well I'm sure Yamato has picked up on it already, I have my own concerns.)

"Make sure the Sunny is in great condition!" Luffy said as he and his friends embarked.

"You got it captain!" Franky said with thumbs up.

They finally set out the main gate, unsure of what lied ahead. Little did they know that this expedition was only the first step into a series of events that would change both the ninja world and the pirate world.

* * *

"Everyone pay attention. It appears we have the unexpected arrival of some interesting characters." The masked man said in a shadowy cave. He was accompanied by 8 figures.

"These newcomers are responsible for a certain change of plans, but rest assured the eye of the moon plan has and always will be our ultimate goal." He continued.

"We already have 6 of the 9 beast and the eight and nine tails have finally been separated. Thanks to the events of the Hokage summit meeting, the five nations are at an all time severance as well. Once we acquire the eight tails there will be little to stop us from getting the 1 and 9 and completing our goal. Zetsu will continue to monitor these newcomers and how they will affect the Nine Tails actions. Until then prepare yourself, for the time for us to truly rise from the shadows is almost upon us."

As he made his announcement behind him stood one more figure, this one much younger than the rest. Behind him a massive purple emanation hovered with menacing red eyes surrounded by black flames. The boy himself watched over the meeting with eyes that told nothing short of a story of hatred.


	7. The Bonds Beyond Worldspt1

Chapter 7: New Friendships are Forged: The Bond Beyond Worlds

* * *

"So you sure these Akatsuki guys are gonna lead us to Sasuke?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah, they're watching over him now, and they're becoming more and more active." Naruto replied. "If we head to the village hidden in the clouds then I'm sure we'll find them or Sasuke himself." Naruto said.

"We should go through the path through the village hidden in the sound. It's the most direct route between Konoha and Kumo. I hope it won't be too difficult for you to go through there again Naruto." Kakashi said.

"Nah, Orochimaru is old news. I'm only focused on stopping Akatsuki, Saving Sasuke and helping Luffy gets his crew home." Naruto said.

"I've been meaning to ask." Robin said. "I know you said Akatsuki is after these Tailed Beasts inside you demon holders, but what do they hope to do with them?"

"Even I'm unsure of their final goal, but it seems they want political power for the most part." Kakashi answered. "They believe having control of such powerful weapons as the tailed beast with cause the five nations will go to them in times of war and crisis."

"When I beat Nagato, he said it was the answer to peace." Naruto added.

"That's pretty stupid." Luffy said.

"I still regret letting him get away. If we run into him let me handle him ok?" Naruto said.

"No problem. I still think it's pretty cool you have a monster living inside you though. You must kick so much ass!" Luffy said.

"Yea, you know for a while he caused me a lot of problems. But I think we've gotten closer. He's really not just a demon af…" Naruto said.

Luffy began knocking on Naruto's stomach.

"Hey Fox demon guy are you really as strong as they say?" Luffy said.

"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU WEIRDO? YOU CAN'T TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT!" Naruto said.

"Come on this is the way to the Valley of the End." Kakashi said. "I hope you don't mind a little tree climbing, it's kind of the way we get around here."

In an instant Luffy was gone.

"What where did he go?" Naruto said.

"AWESOME!" Luffy yelled off in the distance.

"Does he even know where he's going?" Kakashi sighed.

"He is very brash and one track minded. As soon as he knows what to do he sets out to do it." Robin explained. "I hope it won't be a problem Kakashi-kun." Robin said with an innocent giggle.

"Well I suppose it's alright. After all I have to deal with this idiot all the time." Kakashi said.

"Hey Luffy slow down would ya!" Naruto said chasing after Luffy in the thicket.

"Let's not get left behind." Robin said as she also jumped into the thicket. Kakashi followed.

* * *

"Ah what is this place?" A curious Chopper asked as he was lead through a bog. The air was thick and rancid. The soil below him was as wet as water and got stuck between his cloven hooves disgusting the poor doctor. The trees were indistinguishable from the moss and algae that all over them. There were numerous kinds of fungi sprouting everywhere.

"It's so disgusting here. Is this really going to help me learn medical jutsu?" Chopper asked.

"Well, no one can say for sure if you're going to be able to learn medical jutsu, but you should be lucky to be allowed to come here. Only the most skill medical nins in Konoha ever step foot here." Sakura said.

"Training Ground #12, the poison marsh." Sakura introduced.

Chopper shivered. "This whole place is poisonous?" Chopper inquired cautiously taking each step.

"Well in a way yes. The air is a specifically made gas that deteriorates one's chakra energy. So if you stay too long in it without proper chakra control, you could possibly die." She said nonchalantly

"AAAHH! WHY WOULD YOU BRING ME TO A PLACE LIKE THIS? LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT!" Chopper began to chant. He attempted to escape but Sakura grabbed him before his feet could hit the ground.

"Don't worry; it takes over 3 days for it to be lethal to anyone. It also doesn't work as well on animals…or whatever you are." Sakura said.

"I'm a Reindeer!" Chopper said struggling in the young girls hands.

"I've seen a lot of animals talk but I've never seen a reindeer. Are you a summoned creature?" Sakura asked.

"Summoned? No I just ate the Human Human Fruit." Chopper explained.

"Human Human…Fruit?" Sakura said confused.

"Yea, it's one of the devil fruits." Chopper said.

"You're not making any sense, a fruit made you talk?" Sakura said finally dropping the young Reindeer.

"Yeah, in the world we come from there are these special fruits called devil fruits that can give you amazing abilities. When I was young I ate one that gave me the ability to become a human." Chopper explained.

"Really you don't look like a human at all…more like a Tanuki." Sakura said.

Suddenly a giant insect launched itself at Sakura.

"Look out!" Chopper yelled as he jumped in the way.

**HEAVY POINT!**

In an instant he became a hulking monster, slamming the insect into the bog.

Sakura could only stare mouth agape.

"Are you alright?" Chopper asked.

"Is that supposed to be…a human?" Sakura asked.

"Yea this is my most human form." Chopper said scratching his head shyly. "I know it makes me look more like a monster, but I need to be strong to help my captain."

"You must have the strangest crew ever." Sakura said still trying to recover from the shock.

Chopper changed back to his hybrid form.

"I'll try to stay like this while I learn medical jutsu." Chopper said.

"Ok, I really like this form better." Sakura said. "Lady Tsunade should arrive soon. When she does we can really begin to train."

"Ok." Chopper said.

(What have we gotten ourselves into?) Sakura questioned in her mind.

* * *

"Oh man, everyone is off on their mission and I'm left here alone." Usopp said losing all hope. "Since when were we so relaxed about a missing crew member, do they all have that much confidence? Well then I must be that confident too to rescue him! After all if the crew can't trust me who else can they trust?"

"Yo Pinocchio! Keep it down over there!" a voice called. "I'm trying to clean house over here and your breaking my concentration."

Usopp quickly closed his mouth realizing he was shouting in the streets. He turned to see two young men playing a game of poker under the shade of a tree. After a while he recognized them.

"The dog boy! The bug guy. I was told you guys could help me." He said relieved.

The "bug guy" responded with a cold glare.

(Oh crap this is also the guy who clocked me in the face) Usopp said with bad memories.

"Understand this, you may have been given a pass by the Hokage, but we are not allies." He began. "Second, if you request assistance it's only polite to address someone by their name."

Usopp hesitated, surprised by the amount of manners the weirdo before him demanded.

"I'm sorry; uh what are your names?" Usopp said bowing. "Oh, ahem. My name is Usopp."

"I am known as Shino Aburame, and the answer is no." Shino introduced himself.

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M ABOUT TO ASK!" Usopp said shocked at his emphatic answer.

"The name's Kiba Inuzuka, this is Akamaru." Kiba said rubbing his pooch's head. Akamaru made a quiet bark in glee.

"Don't mind Shino, he always likes to be cautious with strangers and especially with the way you guys came into town I can't blame him. Kiba explained, "Exactly what do you want with us?"

"Well it's about the skeleton that ran out of the town. I know it's hard to believe but he's actually alive, and a part of our crew. I just need to find him to make sure he hasn't hurt himself or anyone."

"The answer is still no." Shino said without missing a beat.

"WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO CONVINCE YOU?" Usopp said again shocked with his answer.

"Well I don't care either way but Akamaru seems to really want to help you out." Kiba said.

"Akamaru barked again with his mouth drooling this time. He imagined chewing the sweet and succulent bones of Brook.

"Hey that's great!" Usopp said excited.

"But I'd also like to finish whooping Shino's ass in this game."

"Do you think I'm a fool? I know you scented each card in this deck a long time ago." Shino revealed.

Kiba broke into a cold sweat.

"I let you win those last few rounds so you'd think you were getting the upper hand with your cheating. But I've already covered the scent with my bug's natural odor."

"Why would you say your plan out loud?" Usopp said.

"What are you talking about, I-I wasn't cheating!" Kiba said.

Shino then dropped his cards on the small table.

"Since this game has become pointless, I'll help you find your friend Usopp." Shino said.

"THE GAME WAS YOUR ONLY REASON FOR NOT HELPING ME?" Usopp said, astonished at the revelation.

"Fine whatever you sore loser." Kiba said dropping his cards too. "You seen Hinata around?" He asked.

"Lady Hinata will not be accompanying these intruders to our village." A voice said not far away. "If you require additional assistance I'll be more than happy to take her place."

Neji revealed himself to the newly formed group.

"Ah your eyes the same eyes as the spirit girl. Thank you!" Usopp said. Neji shot him an angry glare that could only be read as "I'm watching you."

(What's with all the weird people in this village?) Usopp thought to himself worried about the expression on the Hyuuga's face. (Can I really trust them to help me find Brook?)

* * *

"So this that Valley of the End place?" Luffy asked looking around where they had landed.

"Yea, just over here is the village in the sound." Naruto said.

For some reason, the four felt compelled to watch the rushing water cascade down into the valley.

"Be on your guard, even with Orochimaru gone the village hidden in the sound will be a dangerous place." Kakashi warned.

"Don't worry we can take care of ourselves." Luffy said confidently. "I'm more worried if we're going to find food soon."

"Well if you didn't eat all of that meat we had on the way here we wouldn't have this issue now would we?" Kakashi said.

"Sasuke was Orochimaru's pupil. Since Orochimaru used to run things here, some of the people may know Sasuke and where he went." Naruto said.

"I may benefit us to ask the town's people what they know. Robin said.

"And we'll find out what kind of food they have there too!" Luffy said getting excited. He leapt off the ground, only realizing how great the drop was as he looked below.

"Wow so huge." He said in awe right before he landed on a rock crushing his golden jewels.

"…Ow" He muttered as he continued to plummet into rock after rock after rock finally falling into the ravine.

"Why does he always act before thinking?" Kakashi said frustrated with the young captain.

"We have to rescue him!" Robin said urgently.

"Why? Can't he just use his stretchy arms to get back up?" Naruto asked.

"He can't swim and being in water drains his strength." Robin explained. "I can tell you more later. Right now we need to get him out of the water."

"I'm on it." Kakashi said as he jumped down.

Luffy approached the waterfall, flailing about and coughing up water. As Kakashi got closer, Luffy sank deeper into the water.

Robin and Naruto slowly made their way down as well.

Luffy emerged, unconsciously falling over the great drop of the waterfall. A net of arms suddenly appeared, attempting to catch him.

**OCHENTA FLEUR: NET**

Luffy fell into the net, but the water continued to rush through the hands and Luffy,

"I don't know how much longer I can hold him." Robin said feeling the drain of the water.

**WATER STYLE: DRAGON MISSLE**

Suddenly a dragon's head emerged from the current taking Luffy with it. It dropped right in front of Kakashi who was standing on the water. As the spout returned to the river, Kakashi grabbed Luffy's arm, freeing him from the wrath of the water surge.

"I hope you weren't bluffing when you said you could help." Kakashi said.

Luffy slowly opened his eyes. "Walking on water…"

* * *

"Zetsu!" The masked man called. An odd creature emerged through the floor like a newly sprouted tree.

"Yes Toby." It responded.

"What do you have to tell us about our new interlopers?"

"Well two of them have chosen to remain in the village and don't seem to be much of a threat." Zetsu began with a bright and cheery voice. "It seems the rest decided to split up with shinobi from Konoha."

"Split up?"

"Yes, two of the fools appear to be headed towards Sunagakure, in an attempt to repair their ship." Zetsu continued now with a dark and guttural voice.

"Interesting, I sent Kisame to the Suna not too long ago to retrieve the One-tail. He had been itching for combat since Itachi's death." Tobi said.

"Water against sand, what a cruel opponent you've set up for the Kazekage." Zetsu replied in his lighthearted tone.

"What about the other's, I want to know what their leader is doing."

"Well the Straw hat boy and his mistress appear to be accompanying the nine-tails and the copy ninja Kakashi to Otogakure, the village hidden in the sound. Apparently they have a goal of meeting with Sasuke."

"Is that loser is still chasing me?" A stern voice said from the background. "And here I thought we had finally agreed he would die at my hand."

"Sasuke, you seemed to have adapted to those eyes quickly." Tobi said. "Do you think Naruto wishes to settle things with you outside of Konoha?"

"I don't care what he wants. If I see him I'll kill him and all of his friends. Honestly I'd rather test my brother's eyes out on bigger game."

"Well the eight-tails has returned to Kumogakure. Do you think you'd be up for a rematch?"

"It won't even be a challenge." Sasuke said as he exited the cave. (Not with you guiding me brother) He thought marveling at his new vision.

"It would be trouble for me if Sasuke Killed Naruto now. Deidara. Sasori. Can I trust you to intercept the Nine-tails path?"

"So I get the honors of turning the nine-tails into the most brilliant masterpiece hmm?" An eager young man said.

"We're not going to destroy him fool, we need the beast from within him." A bulky figure reprimanded him.

"Hmph, whatever the case may be, know that this assignment will be completed with a bang."

With that they left the cave.

"Is that all you have to report Zetsu?"

"So far yes. A clone of mine is in the process of learning more about another one of the interlopers." Zetsu replied.

"Tell me has Nagato completely recovered?"

"Konan has been tending to him back in Amegakure. From what I've heard he is close to one hundred percent."

"Good, be sure no harm comes his way. In his condition, we can't risk someone attacking him. He is still vital to our operation."

With that Zetsu slipped back into the ground.

(It appears everything is falling into place. If I can use these newcomers wisely, the moons eye plan will be complete and the world will be at peace.) Tobi thought in the solitude of the dim cave.

* * *

"Puppets?" Franky said.

"Yes, their are many ninja from Sunagakure who spend years designing and training to use puppets in combat. It has been a somewhat controversial practice in the ninja world but the Sunagakure miltary is one of the most feared and respected likely because of it." Sai replied.

They had been traveling through a large forest. There wasn't much wildlife to be found, but the distant sun shined brightly from the canapy far away. There were mny trees at the beginning of the forest but as they progressed through the marked trail the trees began to lessen in both quantity and size. sand could be seen scattered on the forest floor and the distinct desert air sometimes found it's ways past the trees.

"Of course when someone builds some SUPER weaponry it can't help but stir up the people!" Franky said excited. "I can't wait to see what kind of stuff they have, maybe I can even upgrade BF 37!"

"BF37?" Sai said confused.

"HAve you been asleep, or could it be these magnificent metal enhancements have someow passed your eye?" Franky said in his signature position. "What you see before you is the pinnicle of strength among heroes and perverts alike! ARMORED ME!" The blistering sun shined brightly on his metal body and a powerful ocean wave somehow appeared behind him crashing against it creating a magnificent shower of flashiness.

"So you really are a cyborg." Sai said nonchalantly.

"Affirmative." Franky said in a robotic voice.

"In a way it kind of makes you a living puppet, your sure to either impress or aggrivate the people of the village."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Zoro suddenly yelled.

Sakura had grabbed Sandai Kitetsu and was holding it in the air inspecting it.

"Give me back my swords you crazy woman!" Zoro said aggravated and chasing the young girl.

"I just want to see wht makes these swords so strong is all. I mean these have to be infused with some for you to use those cutting techniques."

"Just hand them over before I cut you down to size!" Zoro threatened.

Franky and Sai watched the ridiculous struggle both feeling a certain level of shame in their companions.

"...It's getting late. We should camp out here. We should be approaching the valley of winds. From there it will only be a short desert journey to Sunagakure." Sai said as he and Franky walked past the two bickering fools.

"YOU'RE JUST GONNA WALK AWAY?" Zoro yelled still reaching for now all three of his swords from Sakura who struggled to keep him at bay.

* * *

In a dark and gloomy forest, a mysterious fog covers the area, fooling even the most adaptive creatures. One could easily become vexed and confused by the repeating patterns of the seemingly undead trees. One can only hear the whistling of their branches and the humming of a phantom, somehow finding itself lost in the mist of the woods.

"I have been walking here for what seems like ages." The phantom said taking a momentary pause from his humming. "How many days has it been?"

He continued to slowly step through the woods using his cane as a support. His steps cracked the dead earth beneath him.

"The fog, this maze, these trees. They all tell me one thing…" He said, finally stopping his movement.

"I'M LOST! SOMEBODY HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" He yelled into the distance.


	8. The Bond Beyond Worldspt2

Chapter 8: The Pact

* * *

"Alright this is where we'll be training." Sakura said as she and Chopper made it to a clearing.

Chopper was amazed to see a large dead looking tree with hanging branches. The branches swayed in the filthy breeze of the bog, paper thin like noodles. Somehow the purple and expired leaves remained on these lifeless branches. They looked like they'd break if someone so much as coughed on them.

"What is wrong with this tree?" Chopper said looking at its derelict condition.

"This tree has been passed down in the senju clan for generations." Sakura began. "The Senjus were known for their large chakra reserves which are invaluable in using medical jutsu. They were also masters at manipulating nature, Hashirama Senju being one of the only ninja capable of using wood jutsu and medical jutsu without seals."

"Wow he must have been an amazing healer." Chopper said getting excited.

"Well he founded this village, and was regarded as the strongest shinobi who ever lived." Sakura said with a smile.

"Wow, do you think I'll be able to become as good as him?" Chopper said imagining himself as ninja in white garb and rubber gloves.

"Well, I suppose anything is possible…" Sakura said unsure. (You'd be the weirdest ninja I'd ever seen.) She thought imagining Chopper's head on the Hokage monument.

"So is this Hashirama guy going to train me too?" Chopper asked.

"No he's long gone. But lady Tsunade is his granddaughter. She is the world's best medical ninja and was my sensei too." Sakura clarified.

"Wow, amazing! I'm really am going to be the greatest doctor!" Chopper said now excited more than ever.

"Well if that's what you want to be you're going to have to listen up and pay attention!" Tsunade said coming from behind the tree.

"Lady Tsunade!" Sakura said.

"Are you ready?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes teach me Lady Tsunade-sensei!" Chopper said bowing his head.

Tsunade smiled and prepared to begin.

* * *

"Easy Akamaru, remember this guy is their friend, don't want you to chomping down on him." Kiba said as Akamaru was excitedly sniffing up a trail through some wet leaves.

"This area is unfamiliar. Are you sure Akamaru isn't going on his own path?" Shino said following behind them.

"No way the scent of death on that fiddle long nose gave us was way too strong to be mistakable. Even know I can pick it out of all the scents in this forest." Kiba said. "Hey where is he anyway?"

"HURRY UP! Do you want to find your friend or not?" Neji said dragging Usopp through the dark forest.

"I'm trying…but I think my can't-go-in-unholy-ninja-forest disease has caught up with me." Usopp said lugging his feet along.

"How disgusting, you're too weak to go by yourself so you find other people to do the dirty work for you." Neji said dropping the limp boy.

"HEY! I'M MORE THAN CAPABLE OF TRAVELLING THROUGH THE FOREST!" Usopp immediately sprung back up. "I just have to be careful. I don't know what kind of ninja demons exist here." Usopp said.

"Pathetic, one wonders how you made it this far." Neji muttered. "I suppose that's to be expected from a pirate."

"Hey don't you talk badly about pirates! To be a pirate is to have the most freedom on the seas." Usopp said.

"Hey guys, ya'll can make out later, Shino's got something." Kiba said.

Usopp and Neji shot each other one last angry glare then reluctantly followed Kiba.

"This mist that covers the forest…it's unnatural." Shino said. "My bugs making sure to avoid it so it's not a jutsu or anything of the sort. Keep on your guard, your cohort may be in danger."

"Uh oh I hope this isn't poison!" Usopp gulped.

"If it was poison I think we'd all be dead already. This place is funky with the stuff." Kiba said. "Besides your friend is already dead right, I doubt poison could kill him again."

"I was talking about me!" Usopp said.

"Coward." Neji said.

"I'm not a coward! Anyway why don't you use your eyes or something? I thought you said you'd help?"

"I said I would accompany you I didn't say anything about assisting you." Neji said.

"Man you're difficult." Usopp sighed.

"Yo long nose, you know any signs we should look out for?" Kiba asked.

"Well Brook is our musician, so I would listen out for humming or singing." Usopp said.

"Alright you heard him Akamaru, perk up those ears!" Kiba said.

"Bark bark!" Akamaru agreed.

"Alright…Brook if you're out there the brave captain Usopp and his merry men are coming to save you." Usopp said triumphantly. He turned around to see a pair of eyes on a tree. One was white and the other was a yellow greenish color.

"AHHHHHHHH! THAT TREE IS ALIVE!" Usopp said. He immediately fired an exploding star at it, leaving only a small cloud of smoke and an assumingly angry tree.

The other three boys just stared at him in both shame and confusion.

"What a fruitless endeavor." Neji said unintentionally restarting the search.

Usopp stared at the tree one more time, uncertain of what he just saw. Deciding not to get left behind he ran after the others.

As they walked away, Zetsu's hideous figure emerged from the tree with his typical wicked smile.

"It appears the interlopers are approaching Amegakure." Black Zetsu said. "It would be wise to stop them before they reach Nagato in his pitiful condition."

"Why dirty our hands, last I checked Kakuzu and Hidan were in the waterfall village after their success in capturing the seven tails." His brighter half suggested.

"Ah they should be more than capable of taking out these weaklings." his dark half agreed. "Let us inform them our friends here."

* * *

"Ahhh man that feels good." Luffy said as he dipped his feet inside a hot tub in nothing but a towel. "Man this place ain't bad at all I don't know why you guys said it would be dangerous."

"Yea, the people here have definitely changed since Orochimaru left." Naruto said coming in from the changing room with his towel on. "It's a shame no one knows where Sasuke went, but at least we got to stay at this awesome hotel." He said getting in the tub.

"Ah this onsen is great! Usually there are a bunch of old sweaty perverts in these places." He then noticed Luffy kicking the water on the edge of the tub.

"Hey what's the matter? You scared it's too hot?" Naruto asked.

"Oh no, I wish I could but I'd just pass out." Luffy laughed.

"Oh yea I forgot you ate that weird fruit that makes you a hammer in water." Naruto said. "I can't imagine why a pirate would want to eat a fruit that makes them unable to swim. Doesn't it make life on the seas harder?"

"It's not so bad; I'm a pretty careful guy after all." Luffy said.

(Did he really just that?") Naruto pondered.

"Besides if I ever fall I always have my crew to help me if I ever fall in the ocean." Luffy reassured.

"I guess that's true. From what Kakashi sensei told me your crew is pretty strong." Naruto said.

"Yea, I missed most of it, but it looked like that battle was huge. Is he strong?" Luffy asked.

"Kakashi-sensei? He's copied over a thousand jutsu with his sharingan, and was almost the Hokage once!" Naruto said excitedly. "I don't think I would have made it this far without him."

"Wow, that's so awesome!" Luffy said with stars in his eyes.

"Hey where is he anyway? He didn't want to come to the onsen?" Naruto asked.

"No he said he had some business to attend to." Luffy said.

"Business?" Naruto said somewhat intrigued. Luffy nodded.

"I think he has something else on his mind." Naruto said with an inquisitive gleam in his eye. "He was keeping a close eye on your scary pirate lady friend."

"Robin?" Luffy said puzzled.

"She kind of scares me." Naruto said. "She has that weird power that lets her sprout arms everywhere, and a really dark aura around her. And that smile that says "I can kill you right now if I wanted too." Naruto said with shivers down his spine.

"She use to be an assassin you know." Luffy said nonchalantly.

"You don't say…" Naruto said with tears in his eyes. (I need to remember to sleep with one eye open tonight.)

"I wonder what he'd want with her." Luffy wondered.

* * *

A gentle sunset painted the sky with a delicate magenta hue. The sun was halfway down the horizon, and leaving stardust in its path to decorate the empty patches of its easel. The tranquil archaeologist was reading a book on the rooftop of the large hotel. She could the entire town from here, but it didn't interest her. After enjoying a small cup of espresso and a tiny coffee cake of just the perfect sweetness she was only focused on reading her literature.

"So you've come to join me Kakashi-kun?" She said without breaking concentration. "Do you not trust me?"

As if he fell from the sky itself, Kakashi appeared, assumedly from another roof.

"You pay close attention to your surroundings." Kakashi said. "Forgive me if I came off as a bit too cautious, I believe I can trust you."

"It's ok, you're probably right to be wary of me." Robin said keeping her eyes on her book.

"Really? That sounds like a threat to me." Kakashi said finding himself a nice section of roof to sit on.

"Hm, you can think of it as a threat if you like. It may benefit you more to see it as an unwritten condition for travelling with pirates." Robin informed.

"Then I suppose you can forgive me if I'm not cautious enough." Kakashi replied, noticing she seemed to refuse to take her eyes of her book. "You've been reading a lot of books from our library. Do you have an interest in our world?" He asked.

"It appears you've enjoy your reading as well. Perhaps you can tell me what this "Icha Icha Paradise" novel is about sometime." Robin said.

"Uhh…it's a bit of a long and boring read really...You wouldn't like it I'm sure." Kakashi said getting somewhat flustered.

Robin laughed softly at the display. "Your world is very interesting. But I'm sure I'll learn more about that as we remain here." Robin answered. "I'm more interested in this Uchiha clan and this Sasuke Uchiha."

"Well I'm sure I don't have to tell you that has a complicated answer."

"Of course."

"Why would someone who came across our world by mistake be interested in something like that?"

"You can say I am a bit of a history buff." Robin said, clearly taking pleasure confusing the ninja.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "A woman who takes pleasure leaving people guessing what her motives are…" He sighed. "That's the most dangerous kind of woman."

Robin found herself laughing slightly harder than she had before. It was more like a young girl's laugh than a grown adult.

"My motives are simple. Right now my only motive is to help my captain achieve his dream."

"I've been meaning to ask. What could drive a woman like you to join the crew of such a reckless man?" Kakashi pried.

For the first time, Robin closed her book. She put it on her lap and closed her eyes.

"That's a question…that invokes a lot in me." Robin said reminiscing about her adventures with the Strawhats. "I guess you could say…there are some people in this world who seem like they aren't meant to do anything. They stand out in a crowd of dreamers and aspire for far much than anyone can achieve. But then they surprise you, time and time again but achieving those goals and they captivate you." Robin explained.

"Since I was young I've always found a fascination with the mysteries of the world. I suppose my captain is one of those mysteries." Robin said opening her eyes.

Kakashi focused his eye on her, soaking the words in. He could tell that even if right now this crew didn't seem to have much chemistry they have been through a lot together. If this woman he was struggling to figure out could suddenly outpour with emotion, they had to have strong bonds.

"I suppose I can understand that. People like him always seem to have something they want to prove to the world, and they are stubborn beyond all else." Kakashi agreed knowing his student. "I suppose your loyalty alone is what has brought you on this trip then."

"Perhaps. But I've also come on my own accord." Robin corrected. "In your student, Mr. Uzumaki I can see that mysterious force of will." "The story he has. To have to live your childhood being known as a demon…is a pain I can relate to."

"I can't imagine that." Kakashi said as he stood up. Robin looked at him for the first time in their conversation.

"Hm?" She questioned.

"All things considered, you are a powerful woman. But even knowing that I can't imagine you being considered something like a demon."

He walked to the balcony right next to Robin's chair.

"Oh? So what would you consider me then Kakashi-kun?" Robin said intrigued by his statement.

It was quiet for a while on that breezy rooftop. Finally Kakashi found an answer for her question.

"An enigma" He said.

To this Robin found herself whole heartedly laughing. It was far from hysterical, but it was also far beyond her normal soft chuckling. It was the way a normal person would laugh at a pun, but from her it still managed to maintain its sweetness and dignity. Kakashi paid her laughter no mind and continue to stare out over the rooftop. He was surprised to notice she had also gotten out of her seat and was next to him over the balcony.

"I would like to understand what drives him to go as far as he has." Robin said continuing their original conversation.

It was quiet again as they embraced the breeze and looked at the sky.

"Loneliness is a powerful motivator." Kakashi said.

They looked out as the sky slowly changed from magenta to violet and the stardust began to shine.

"It is." Robin said with a warm smile.

* * *

"She's a really good person though. She's saved my life more times than I can remember." Luffy guaranteed.

"Well I guess I can trust her then, although I don't want to think about those hands sprouting on me." Naruto said feeling grossed out just by the thought.

"Yea she ate a devil fruit too."

"Really? That explains a lot. You know while it may sound weird, having fruits lying around that can give you superpowers sounds pretty cool."

"Well they're kind of rare. I've seen a lot of strong guys with abilities, but the only devil fruit I've actually ever seen was the one I ate."

"Aw man really? I was hoping you had one, I'd like to be able to stretch like that." Naruto said.

"Well there's only one Gum Gum Fruit and I ate it, but there's a lot of other really cool ones, like ones that can make you turn into a leopard, or make you into sand, or even bring you back to life after you die." Luffy explained.

"Oh man now I really want one!" Naruto said getting excited. "Your world sounds amazing! I wish I could see it."

"Shishishishi it's pretty awesome, but this place is cool too! I don't think I've ever seen people make clones of their self or use demon magic." Luffy said.

"It's not magic, it's chakra." Naruto said.

"Chakra?" Luffy said inquisitively.

"Yea, it's like uh…how did Iruka-sensei explain it." Naruto said thinking for a moment.

"Well it's kind of like energy that all living things have that allows them to use jutsu and stuff. And then there was something about chakra networks and chakra being released through channels." Naruto struggled to explain. "Now that I think about it I don't quite get it myself." He shyly scratched the back of his head.

"I get it. It's mystery energy." Luffy said confident in his acute analysis.

"Yea. Something like that." Naruto concurred. "Point is it lets us do all kinds of stuff like create jutsu, use nature, or even walk on trees and water."

"Ah that's right I saw Cyclops do that earlier, that's so awesome!" Luffy suddenly shouted. "You gotta teach me how to do that!"

"Teach you water walking? Hmm I don't know…it took me a lot of practice to get the chakra control just right." Naruto said with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Hey I'm a pretty fast learner you know." Luffy said.

"Well I guess you wouldn't have to worry about falling in water if you could just walk on top of it." Naruto considered. "Alright I'm not much of a teacher but I'll show you how to walk on water."

"Yes!" Luffy said excitedly prepared.

"Well first you have to channel your chakra to your feet like this." Naruto said lifting his foot out of the water. It had a light blue hue around it.

"Ok!" Luffy said raising his own foot. Luffy immediately began struggling to achieve the same effect as Naruto. Veins began popping out of his head as it burned a vibrant red. As his leg was raised his towel lifted with it, uncovering Luffy just enough for Naruto to see.

Luffy eventually gave out from under all the stress. "Oh man this is hard." He said breathing heavily.

"Hey, Luffy…does the Gum Gum Fruit give you an extra leg?" Naruto asked with a puzzled look.

"No." Luffy replied.

"Oh…" Naruto said still somewhat confused. He then started putting the pieces together. Lifting his own towel a little bit, he took a glance at himself, and suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Luffy tried again still struggling to even make the smallest chakra aura.

"Well this is where he'd probably say to stop forcing too much energy and try to focus it there." Naruto said.

Luffy paused for a moment. "Ah focus." He said as if he had an epiphany. "Hmmmmmmmmmm…"

The hot room was filled with the sound of Luffy's high pitched whirring. He kept his eyes closed, with his leg still in the air. It then turned black.

"Whoa I've never seen chakra do that before." Naruto said.

"Hm?" Luffy said, finally stopping the incessant noise he was making. "Oh no this is haki."

"Haki?" Naruto asked.

"Yea, this is color of armaments. It makes my attacks a lot stronger. I can also use color of observation and the conqueror."

"Conqueror?"

"Yea, if somebody is weak I can knock them out cold." Luffy said placing his foot down.

"That must be what Kakashi was talking about. He said when you appeared everybody just dropped to the floor." Naruto said. "So what does observation do?"

"Let's me sense everything around me, and predict how opponents are gonna attack me." Luffy said.

"Really?" Naruto said. "I can do something similar if I meditate."

"Oh I don't need to meditate to use it. There are two hundred and forty three people in this hotel, and Cyclops and Robin are on the roof." Luffy said.

"What no way you're just guessing!" Naruto accused.

"No it's true!" Luffy retorted.

"Alright let's test that close your eyes." Naruto said.

Luffy did so and Naruto prepared mass of clones. They all jumped around and danced the room making loud and obnoxious noises.

"Alright how many clones are in here now?" Naruto asked with a pompous laugh.

"16." Luffy replied.

"HA I knew it!" Naruto said triumphantly.

"No wait, there are fifteen clones. One of those forces is really strong and faint." Luffy said.

"…What." Naruto said now confused.

"And it's angry. Oh man is there a really strong guy in the room right now?" Luffy said opening his eyes excitedly.

The clones disappeared one by one each one more dumbfounded as it vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"No…that must be…the nine-tails." Naruto said looking at his seal on his stomach.

"Oh yea, the demon guy! One of these days you gotta show me what he can do!" Luffy said.

"So it looks like you have mystery forces in your own world too." Naruto said still amazed at Luffy's ability. (Even my sage mode sensing isn't as accurate as that.)

"Yea, but none that can make you walk on water." Luffy said once again attempt to channel chakra.

Naruto thought for a moment. He then stood up in the water.

"Alright Luffy! This is our new deal. If I'm gonna teach you how to use chakra then you gotta teach me how to use haki!" Naruto declared.

"Teach…I've never taught anyone anything in my life." Luffy said.

"Think about it. If you learn how to walk on water you won't have to worry about drowning and get stronger as a pirate if I learn how to use haki, I can detect everything around me even faster than Sasuke. I'll get stronger as a ninja. What do you say?" Naruto said reaching out his hand. He extended to fingers.

"What's that?" Luffy asked.

"It's the shinobi sign of reconciliation and respect. Just means, we got each other's backs." Naruto said.

Luffy had a blank expression on his face. "That's dumb." Luffy said.

"Hey this is how ninja's show there bonds!" Naruto said. Although he couldn't help but remember how long ago he once refused to use the sign when facing Sasuke and how now he would give anything just have his surly friend back home.

"Hm maybe it is a bit much." Naruto said reconsidering.

"No not that stuff. I just mean the way your fingers are." Luffy said.

Naruto looked confused.

"No one's bond should be as weak as two fingers. You should use your whole fist to show your friendships." Luffy said extending his fist.

Naruto, still trying to figure out this straw hat guy smiled. "Alright!" He said confidently.

Both of the young men beaming, they bumped fist, signaling their pact to help each other in their dream. They each bore an ecstatic smile, looking forward to nothing short of the path laid ahead of them and the things they would learn from each other. Even if they knew they wouldn't care that they were being watched.

* * *

"Tobi, we have some important news." Zetsu said appearing in the dark cave.

Tobi was adjusting his mask. He was standing before a large Gunbai fan on the cave wall.

"Go ahead speak." Tobi said taking the fan off the wall.

"It appears two of the interlopers are approaching Amegakure. Knowing Nagato is still recovering, we've already sent Kakuzu and Hidan in their direction. They are not very strong and should be easily dealt with." White Zetsu began.

Tobi didn't respond. He only tied the fan to his back and continued listening.

"By this time Kisame should be dealing with the Kazekage."

Tobi walked towards the exit of the cave looking prepared for combat. "That is all fine, just tell me where the status of Straw hat and the tailed beasts."

"Of course. Sasuke has been moving fast from our hideout and is already near the village hidden in the sound. By this time tomorrow he should be taking out the eight tails. As for the nine-tails he also seems to be headed in that direction. Eventually he and Sasuke are going to meet."

"Find out how close Sasori and Deidara are; make sure they prevent the nine-tails from interacting with Sasuke. If they can also separate straw hat from the nine-tails. I'm going on a little excursion; it shouldn't take me too long." He said as he stepped out of the cave.

"Are you planning on fighting someone?" Black Zetsu inquired.

"No, I'm just picking up something. Something that will help me prepare this world for the changing tides." Tobi said. He walked away into the light seemingly vanishing in its essence.

* * *

"Don't forget, are primary objective is to stop the nine-tails from reaching Sasuke. If apprehending him becomes too difficult we should retreat." Sasori said crawling along a long pathway.

"Like I care what happens to that disgusting Uchiha. To be honest I'd rather be destroying him, after all he took away my chance to kill to kill Itachi. I'll never forgive him for that." Deidara said as they continued on the road.

"You fool you could never have hoped to defeat Itachi or Sasuke, you'd just end up killing yourself with those pathetic bombs you call art." Sasori said. "Just stick to the plan."

"Oh Sasori, you truly lack as much will as your puppets." Deidara retorted. "Either way, my works of art will ensure us victory."

They continued on their path getting ever closer to Strawhat Luffy and the Demon Holder.


	9. Strawhats vs Akatsuki pt1

Chapter 9: The Assault Begins: The Inhuman Akatsuki vs. the Impregnable Strawhats

* * *

"Ah what a good sleep!" Naruto yawned as he woke up in his hotel bed. It was a simple room A balanced by a green carpet against cream wallpaper. It held the essentials of a fridge and a television. The closet was small but perfect for the ninja on the go to pack his things for a night. He was surprised his roommate Luffy wasn't in the bed across from him.

(I guess he's an early bird.) Naruto figured. (I gotta get pumped too. We're so close to Sasuke I can feel it!)

He fixed the white sheets of bed and quickly got dress and left the room. Upon closing the door he noticed Kakashi and Robin were waiting in the hallway.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei and scary Nico-chan!" Naruto called excited.

"Oh Mr. Uzumaki. I'm surprised to see you up so early. Good morning." Robin said with a smile.

"I guess I couldn't wait to get started…" Naruto replied. "Hey wait a minute Kakashi-sensei weren't you bunking with me and Luffy?"

"Well...I lost my hotel key and you guys were already sleeping. So Ms. Nico allowed me to stay with her for the night." Kakashi answered.

Naruto felt the answer was very suspicious but knowing his teacher's straight forward way of talking he decided not to bother delving deeper.

"Speaking of Luffy, is he still sleeping?" Kakashi asked.

"No he was gone when I woke up." Naruto answered.

"My guess would be the dining hall." Robin said.

"Yea, it'd do us all some good if we got some breakfast." Kakashi said.

"Yea I'm starved! Then after breakfast we head out immediately! Don't wanna let Sasuke get too far." Naruto said.

"Lead the way Mr. Uzumaki." Robin said.

With that they proceeded to the dining hall ready to continue their adventure.

* * *

"This is the valley of winds, through it is Sunagakure." Sai explained as he pointed to the large sand dune in the distance. A barren wasteland stood in the way, the only form of life to be seen the tiny shrubs dotting the landscape.

"Just a short walk through the desert eh? No problem for this hard metal exterior. Although the skin is cold to the touch inside beats the heart of a man! OW!" Franky said hyped for the trek.

"Great more walking through the desert. Like I didn't get enough of this in Alabasta. There better be some strong people on this path." Zoro said.

"CHA THROUGH THE DESERT!" Sakura said with a fist in the air.

The three boys just stared at her in confusion.

"I mean let's hurry through. We're almost there." Sakura said.

"How much longer do you intend on keeping up this charade?" Sai asked.

"W-what are you talking about?" Sakura said nervously.

"These too may be idiots, but to a normal person it's obvious you're not Sakura." Sai deduced.

"What but that's…not right." Sakura coughed out.

"What! Don't tell me you're that little brat in disguise!" Zoro said enraged.

"AH!" Sakura screamed as she fell back. She disappeared in a cloud of smoke, revealing Konohamaru.

"OK ok, I just wanted to go on this trip so bad."

"The little kid had so much passion; he had to disguise himself as a woman to achieve his dreams. Is there anything manlier than that?" Franky said tearing up.

"Well this creates a problem for us. We have no medical ninja on our team." Sai said.

"More importantly, you forgot my booze kid!" Zoro said.

"Hey it's not so bad. I mean no one really attacked us yet anyway." Konohamaru assured.

"Hey don't ignore me k-." Zoro paused.

He took a few steps, unsheathing his sword.

"…There's…water…underneath this sand." He muttered.

The rest of them looked confused.

Zoro began tracing an imaginary line through a straight path in the sand. The spots he pointed to seemed to be diverting into the ground like a mine river. Zoro closed his eyes, as if he was listening to the sand.

"Someone's here!" Zoro said sternly.

"What?" Konohamaru panicked.

"Franky! Fire your laser beam over there." Zoro ordered pointing to a spot not too far from the group.

"What?" Franky said confused. "OK if you say so." He said as he put his arms in front of himself.

**FRANKY RADICAL BEAM**

Franky fired a powerful shot of light towards the spot Zoro designated. An enormous explosion and plume of sand covered the area.

Sai and Konohamaru took cover as the cloud cleared.

"That was so awesome. Look it's raining sand." Konohamaru said in awe.

"That's not sand." Sai said. "It's water."

"Out here?" Konohamaru said confused.

"What is it Zoro?" Franky asked.

"An enemy." Zoro replied coldly looking at the hole before him. There was a geyser of water spouting from it.

"Oh man." A figure within the water spout said. "And here I thought I had the perfect vantage point to take out the Kazekage." It said as it revealed a large blade.

* * *

"Damn it! You'd think after capturing that annoying ass seven-tails they'd give us some kind of break!" A foul mouthed young man said.

"What are you complaining about? I thought you relished the chance to kill another target." He masked partner questioned.

"Death and murder is something that should be savored, if these people are as weak as Zetsu says they will die before I can have any fun." The young man replied.

"This is why you're the worst among our ranks in the Akatsuki. You think nothing of your contract." The masked man said as his green eyes seemed to glow. "Apparently these interlopers are pirates, imagine what kind of bounty they may have to collect on?"

"Don't you mock me you bastard! What does it matter to you anyway? It's not like you even know what kind of stupid jutsu can send you to their world to collect."

"I don't, but I'm sure our unpredictable little friend Madara Uchiha does."

"You really think that annoying little bastard could be someone like Madara Uchiha? You're a gullible dumbass Kakuzu."

"Really? The man who believes some voice in the sky commands him to kill without reason is calling me a gullible dumbass."

"DON'T YOU TAKE THE LORD JASHIN'S NAME IN VAIN!" the young man said wielding his large three bladed scythe. He lunged towards his partner with murderous intent.

Kakuzu suddenly knelt down and touched the ground, leaving his partner to fall face first in the mud.

"It appears our targets are nearby." He said noticing the footprints in the mud. He could hear a faint sound in the distance. It was low, but was recognizable as a song.

"_Yo ho ho hooooo yo ho hooo hooooo. Yo ho ho hooooo yo ho hooo hooooo..."_

"Hidan, pull yourself together. We have work to do." He said as he continued through the forest.

"THIS ISN'T OVER YOU ASSHOLE!"Hidan yelled back still on the ground and drenched in mud.

* * *

_*Kouen: Naruto Shippuden Music_

"Well it looks like things just got interesting." Zoro said with a devilish smile on his face.

"Whoa. It feels I've been unlucky enough to cross paths with a demon." The figure said.

The mist from the rain began to clear, revealing the creature as a blue man with gills. His whole face was reminiscent of a shark. His body was covered in a large black coat designed with red clouds. The giant sword in his hand was covered in blue spines.

"Oh no, it just looks like some algae got a bit too close."

"Hmph tough talk from a fishman. I've cut down thousands like you in the past." Zoro retorted.

"Fishman? I haven't been called that in awhile. I guess I've killed my prey so fast nowadays, I never get to hear their playful banter."

"Zoro I'd be careful this guy seems dangerous." Franky said.

"That's Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the Akatsuki. He must be after the One-tail sealed in the Kazekage." Sai said.

"Really now?" Zoro said with a gleam in his eye.

"He uses powerful water techniques I'd advise you to be on your guard."

"Relax it's not like I'm a fruit user or anything. You say this guy is trying to get some kind of monster in the village right?" Zoro asked.

"Yes. If the Akatsuki get their hands on the tailed beast they will gain control over the entire shinobi world." Sai informed.

"Then leave him to me. You guys focus on protecting the boy and getting to the village."

"So you must be part of the interlopers Madara and Zetsu keep talking about. I was warned you may get in the way. You're not a priority, and I'd rather focus on the mission, but it seems you're not willing to let me by." The shark man said as he prepared some seals. "You may become dangerous if I let you live."

"You sound confident. Let's see if you have that much to say when my blade has crossed your neck." Zoro challenged.

Kisame smirked and began his attack.

**WATER STYLE: EXPLODING WATER SHOCK WAVE!**

In an instant, an entire lake began pouring out of his mouth.

"Oh man let's bounce." Franky said grabbing Konohamaru. They ran out of the way as the lake continued swallowing up the baked sand.

"Wait what about Roronoa?" Konohamaru said as he was being carried away from the battlefield.

Zoro jumped into the air to evade the technique.

"He may be right. The opponent is an exceptionally powerful one." Sai said.

"Don't worry Zoro is on the way to being the world's greatest swordsmen. There's nothing he can't cut down to size." Franky assured. "If he says leave it to him, he's going to take care of it."

Water filled the entire sinkhole that was created with the blast leaving no stone uncovered. Steam visibly escaped from the drowned sand underneath the waves. Zoro could see it take shape. An oasis was created in the desert.

Suddenly he noticed something fire up from the water. Kisame was in the air ready to slam his Samehade into Zoro.

**WATER STYLE: GREAT WATER DRILL!**

A large spiraling pillar of water covered the Samehade as Kisame sent it straight towards Zoro. Zoro was just able to unsheathe his blades to defend himself when the drill dug into him. Kisame continued to push him into the lake he formed, causing a massive whirlpool to form. Hot water shot up into the air creating a new misty rain into the arid region. The Kisame that greeted the group disappeared into the water, revealing itself as a clone. The real Kisame, satisfied with his crushing of the swordsman, prepared his next attack.

* * *

"BROOK!" Usopp yelled. The only response he got was the forest yelling the message back to him.

"BROOK! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Again, there was no answer.

"Give it up long nose. If he could hear you we would have found him by now." Kiba said.

"Oh man Brook really traveled far away from the village." Usopp said getting worried. "I know he got spooked but why would he run this far?"

"Well he's a living skeleton. It's not exactly the most normal thing to see running around. He could've been chased down and hid in this forest." Kiba suggested.

"That doesn't seem to be the case." Shino said. "If you look at his foot prints, you can see that they are very spaced and even. Besides ours, they are also the only ones here. If he had been running they would have been much more frequent and messy not to mention we'd at least see some other trails behind his."

"Yea it looks like he was taking a stroll through these scary woods." Usopp said. "Hey Spirit guy you think you can use those eyes to see how much farther Brook is."

Neji didn't respond. He only reluctantly activated his Byakugan and searched within 50 meters.

"Everything in this forest appears to be dead. With no chakra aura, your friend blends in like camouflage." Neji said finding not even a single sign of Brook.

"Are you sure you're looking far enough? We have his scent down he can't be too far." Usopp pleaded.

"I already told you it was pointless. If the path we followed is what I think it is, then at this point he could have already been captured by the ninja of Amegakure."

"Amegakure?"

"The Village Hidden in the Rain. We have reason to believe it is a base for Akatsuki operations, and its leader recently attacked our village. They've been known to have very strong defenses on their borders, if they see Konoha ninja, they would attack us on sight and we'd be horribly out numbered. We should turn back now."

"We can't turn back yet! I can't leave a crew member behind especially in a situation like this!" Usopp said.

"Can't you understand from what I just explained? It's pointless to continue! Unless of course… you're admitting you're an agent of Akatsuki!" Neji suddenly took up a fighting stance.

"Wha-wha-WHAT?" Usopp said panicking.

"Whoa take it easy Neji! I agree that it'll be dangerous to continue but we have no reason to suspect Usopp." Kiba said.

Akamaru was still sniffing out the trail getting more excited. He suddenly paused when he began to pick up another scent.

"And why don't we? These outsiders just happen to pop into our village from a portal in the sky in the middle of crisis with a secret terrorist organization and we're supposed to just accept it? Then one of them leads us straight towards a base of Akatsuki's operations for his supposed "friend" who's clearly some reanimated corpse from some forbidden jutsu."

"You're crazy who would go through all that! I just want to get my crewmate back!" Usopp said starting to get upset.

"You're really trying to sell us on you being a pirate! After all only a thug of the sea wouldn't expect a careful plot form his enemy." Neji barked back.

"I am a pirate! And I pirate's not just a thug! We're warriors on the sea with the most freedom in the world! On a pirate ship, our bond is more important than anything, even treasure. I couldn't be making all of that up!"

"Well if your claim of friendship is true, then shouldn't you know this Brook's motivation?"

"Get off my back already! All of us are trying to understand why Brook acts the way he does. He's…interesting."

"Then what a disorganized mess your crew is." He lowered his defense and folded his arms. "I originally came because I thought your team was still a threat to this world, but now it's clear to me that you're all a bunch of fools with more brawn then brain." Neji said with disdain. "Of course besides you, who it appears, have a lack of both."

"Alright listen here ponytail!" Usopp said with a sudden burst of passion. "I've had just about enough of you doing nothing but insulting me and my crewmates since we got here."

Some of Shino's bugs flew back to their master after scouting the area.

"I admit my crew may not be as fancy or as sophisticated as you shinobi are, but we have something that neither you nor any ninja in the world could ever match!" Usopp continued pointing at the Hyuuga.

"And what would that be?" Neji questioned with a somewhat smug stare.

"The will to dream! We've gotten as strong and as far as we have on almost nothing but that alone. If that's not good enough for you then you can go to hell for all I care! But I'm not leaving my friend behind!"

"Ambition alone isn't enough to make things happen! You have to have the skills to back up those goals!" Neji said growing irate again. "You have no idea what you'd be up against if we get caught out here! If you want to be a coward now is the time."

Kiba and Akamaru slowly backed away as the argument became more and more fierce. Shino appeared to be conversing with his insects on what they discovered.

"We've faced threats like your stupid Akatsuki thousands of times before! If he's been caught I'll rescue him just like he'd do for me!" Usopp retorted.

"I'd imagine your crew has just gotten lucky on your voyage. It's shameful to think we had any trouble dealing with you on your arrival. What do you even intend to do if he has been captured? You know you're too weak to do anything of use!"

Now Usopp was shaking with anger.

"IT'S OVER FOR YOUR FRIEND AND IT'LL BE OVER FOR US TOO IF YOU DON'T GIVE UP THIS IDIOTIC QUEST!" Neji yelled.

"I WON'T GIVE UP UNTIL I FIND HIM, SO SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU BASTARD!" Usopp erupted, madder than he had ever been before.

The two butted heads, prepared to attack at any moment. The heat of their anger was strong enough to fill the dead forest with energy.

"We're not alone here." Shino said.

Usopp and Neji suddenly snapped out of their rage to take notice of Shino's words.

"Are you sure Shino?" Kiba asked.

"Yes my insects appear to have found an incredible chakra source. It also seems to be approaching fast." Shino said.

"You see I told you! We've probably been spotted already." Neji said.

**BYAKUGAN!**

This time he used his Byakugan to see much farther. Now he could see the edge of Amegakure as well as two bodies.

"There are two men, and they both have a large amount of chakra. But one has enough for at least five people." Neji as a cold sweat drop slid down his neck. "The Akatsuki are always paired. We've already been targeted!"

"If it's just two guys it can't be all that bad. Even if their strong the five of us together can take them." Usopp said confidently.

"Don't you understand? One of their members was able to topple our entire village in one attack. We have no idea what their strengths or weaknesses are. We could fight them off or just as likely die for no reason." Neji explained.

"Then that's just a chance we have to take!" Usopp said standing tall.

"When the hell did you grow such a backbone long nose?" Kiba said impressed with his valor.

"The pirate's code of honor is we don't turn our backs on our comrades." Usopp said. After closer inspection they could all see his legs trembling.

Usopp suddenly began running away.

"What the hell?" Kiba said as they all watched him take off.

"But there's no point in going to them if they'll come to us!" Usopp said as he ran.

"That fool. If they catch him he's going to get killed." Shino said.

"We have no reason to protect him. I say we should let fools be fools." Neji said.

"Hey he may not be all that bright and kind of cowardly, but I don't think I could sleep tonight if we didn't at least try to get him back. He kinda trusted us to get his friend." Kiba said. "I don't want another failed rescue mission under my belt. I'd be a pretty crappy ninja if let him die like this."

Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Come on Akamaru!"

With that Kiba and Akamaru continued on the trail now side by side.

Shino stared at Neji intently. There was a mixture of both empathy and disappointment in his gaze.

"Perhaps they are all brash fools who don't understand the intricacies of our world." Shino began. "But it's not about what they believe or how they act. It's about our job as ninja of the hidden leaf. We are regarded as the strongest military power bearing the ninja's with the most potential. What does it say about us to turn our back on the people who trust us as shinobi?"

Neji refused to respond.

"The pirate's code may be confusing and foolish to us, but the shinobi's code is quite clear. He has his expectations and we have ours. We can't afford to forget that."

Shino let his words stew inside of Neji. When he was certain his job was complete, he left the young ninja alone in those dead woods, with nothing but his own thoughts and skepticism to comfort him.

* * *

Zoro opened his eye to see the glimmering sun at the surface far away from him. The water was still warm from the sand, but far from boiling. Some scorpions and desert rodents could be seen floating in the depths.

(This guy is more of a pain in the ass than those new fishmen pirates. Maybe I'll finally be able to not hold back.) Zoro thought to himself.

_*Karakuri Tower Defense, Transform! One Piece Music_

5 blots appeared to disrupt the light at the top. Zoro had to squint in order to make out the pack of sharks that were charging towards him. He quickly prepared himself for the onslaught.

**SUMMONING JUTSU: SHARK PACK!**

Kisame had his hand against the water where the sharks had just been released.

"Too easy." He gloated.

Konohamaru suddenly appeared, attempting an aerial assault with a kunai.

"Spunky brat! Get out of there!" Franky called realizing he disappeared from their vantage point.

He was easily evaded and found himself being choked for his troubles.

"Konohamaru!" Sai called out.

"Come on kid, you're not even a factor in our operation. Why don't you run along home to mama? Or maybe I can send you straight to hell with your samurai friend." Kisame threatened the boy.

"You first." Konohamaru replied revealing an explosive tag on his palm.

(A clone?) Kisame realized too late.

The blast sent him back a good distance but did not faze him. Konohamaru however, had 2 clones grab his arms before he could react.

"Eat this you bastard!" The real Konohamaru said tossing 3 kunai at his opponent.

"You really don't know who you're dealing with kid." Kisame said with a vicious smile.

A water clone emerged from the lake and grabbed the kunai before they made contact. With a swift wave of its Samehade, a rush of water enveloped the young ninja. The real Kisame easily dispatched the 2 clones with a punch to each. He then noticed the water begin to converge at a certain point in the lake. He turned around in shock.

**SANTORYU: BLACK ROPE DRAGON TWISTER**

A tornado of water erupted from the lake and began sucking everything inside it. Kisame fought against its pull, jumping back across the lake as far as he could. He could see his sharks cut into pieces inside the updraft. He quickly put his hands together to make seals.

**WATER STYLE: GREAT WATER WALL!**

A wall of water defended Kisame from the pursuing cyclone. The 2 bodies of water collided; causing another, larger, mist to form. A lot of the water had been dissipated revealing a few stones from beneath the waves. Kisame was standing alone in the mist, looking for the swordsman in every direction but to no avail.

***IITORYU…**

He didn't even see it coming.

**LION SONG OF DEATH!**

Zoro appeared in a literal split second, slicing the top half of the shark-man clean off. The body quickly fell onto its knees and then into the water.

"Alright Roronoa!" Konohamaru said still standing on the water.

Water rained down as Kisame's body seemed to vanish beneath the waves.

* * *

"Ah that food really hit the spot." Luffy said patting his belly.

"Man you can really put that food away." Naruto said.

"I still don't know how we managed to pay off that bill." Kakashi said.

"Hopefully being full doesn't slow us down." Robin added.

They were walking down a long road that seemed endless. The trees along the sides of the road were tall enough to guide the light of the sun directly on the path. It was unnaturally quiet. Even the birds and squirrels in the trees didn't seem to be having any conservations. The only noises the winding whipping away. After a while Naruto suddenly gasped and then walked in front of them.

"Hey Luffy, maybe this is good time to show me how to do some haki stuff!" Naruto said

"Haki?" Kakashi said.

"Oh yea!" Luffy said remembering their deal.

"Yea I wanna learn how to make my attacks hard as steel and be able to sense everything around me." Naruto said getting excited.

"It appears Luffy and Mr. Uzumaki have made some sort of agreement." Robin said.

"Right let's do it!" Luffy complied. "Uh…how do I begin?" Luffy said clearly overexerting his brain.

"You trained with a teacher right? Just tell me what your teacher taught you." Naruto suggested.

"Ah Old Man Rayleigh!" Luffy said remembering his time training with the Pirate king's first mate. "He said everyone is able to learn haki, that it's the natural energy and awareness we all have and using it as an extension of yourself." Luffy quoted.

"Natural extension? Like Nature energy?" Naruto said. "Then maybe it's the same as when I enter sage mode. Although I don't remember any part of me turning hard as metal using sage energy." Naruto said.

"Maybe you can practice on Luffy. As a rubber man he normally isn't affected by physical attacks, but haki allows one to hit ability users like normal humans." Robin suggested.

"Whoa really? That ok with you Luffy?" Naruto asked.

"Yea that's a great idea! Give me your best shot Naruto!" Luffy said.

"Alright." Naruto said.

He dropped to floor and sat Indian style, much to Luffy and Robin's confusion. Naruto began meditating silently.

"What's he doing?" Luffy asked.

"He's entering sage mode. This is how he gathers natural energy that is used in sage jutsu." Kakashi answered.

Suddenly Naruto winced as if he had gotten hit in the stomach. The birds flew into the sky as if they felt the same shock Naruto appeared to.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. The iris was now a lime green and the pupils were straight lines.

"Someone…is here with us." Naruto said.

"What? Who is it and where?" Kakashi said preparing for battle.

Luffy looked into the air and saw the birds begin forming a V shape.

"I think they are two people but I'm not sure. There's a lot of energy from both of them." Naruto said.

Luffy also noticed a large amount of insects by his feet. The birds in the sky began flying lower to the ground. Luffy stared straight ahead of himself and suddenly had a vision of everything exploding around him.

"EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE!" Luffy yelled as he stretched his leg.

_*Hundred Thunderclaps remix-Naruto Shippuden Movie 4_

Before the others could react they had been kicked into the neighboring forest. Luffy jumped atop a tree seeing the insects begin to swell. Soon the ground burst into flames, kicking up dirt and debris with multiple explosions.

"What's going on?' Naruto said confused and rubbing his head. "What the hell Luffy?"

"Someone's ambushing us." Robin said rising to her feet.

"We have to move." Kakashi said already standing. "Otherwise we're just sitting ducks."

They were all just in time to see the birds in the sky come crashing down one by one. On closer inspection, they noticed they were completely white with no feathers to speak off.

Luffy vanished from the tree as the first one crashed into it.

Naruto and Robin escaped the small forest as the tree came toppling down. Kakashi jump over the falling tree and began running. A bird crashed at their spot narrowly missing them.

Luffy was easily evading each bomb as it shot towards him leaving an explosion in his wake. The first one he ducked. The second one he swiftly dodged to the left. The third, he leapt to the right.

Naruto leapt high into the air.

**SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!**

The clones began tossing shuriken at the flock of death causing explosions across the sky. Some of the birds escaped and crashed into some of the clones lessening their number.

Kakashi unmasked his sharingan eye and ran through the trees trying to locate the enemy. He simultaneously had to evade the birds crashing down, and threes that would topple afterwards. Kakashi jumped atop on such tree. And saw the chakra auras below him.

(More mines?) He thought surprised at the amount of danger right under their noses.

**WATER STYLE: RAGING WATER WAVE!**

Kakashi released a fast stream of water from his mouth to cover the field of mines. They still exploded causing the water to pop and eventually disperse across the forest. Kakashi was able to land in the scattered mud pile he had created.

A trio of birds flew towards Robin in a straight line.

**OCHO FLUR**

Robin sprouted arms on the one in the center. Just as quickly she dragged the other two bombs towards it, the arms vanishing with the motion. The birds collided and exploded instantly.

Luffy was still running from the pursuing creatures, jumping from explosion to explosion. He eventually stopped in his tracks and stared at a certain spot in the woods. A large bird appeared seemingly out of nowhere and set its sights on Luffy.

**GUM GUM…**

The bird flew straight towards Luffy like freight train.

**NET!**

He stretched his fingers to form a net that captured the bird before it detonated, allowing Luffy to redirect and chuck it into the location he pointed out to himself before. The ensuing explosion toppled one of the trees creating a chain reaction of falling trees clearing a small portion of the forest.

*Naruto, Robin and Kakashi caught up with Luffy, getting a front row seat to see the destruction before them.

"Wow that was amazing Luffy!" Naruto congratulated.

In the span of a few short minutes, the entire path was wrecked. The large scale explosion made a small clearing in the trees.

"Deidara, I thought I told you we're not supposed to kill the nine-tails." A deep voice revealed itself in frustration. A large reptilian looking creature said. It had five strands of hair on its otherwise bald head and had a long skeletal looking tail. The point was extended and charred slightly, assumedly from deflecting the blast.

"Fufufufu, I understand that Master Sasori. But I just had to test how much our new friends would appreciate my art!" A more effeminate tone cackled behind the creature. He appeared to be a normal blonde man with one of his eyes covered by his long hair. He licked his lips eager to continue his exhibition.

* * *

Zoro was standing on a stone in the lake. Somewhat disappointed with the conclusion of his battle. Little did he know his expectation was soon going to be met.

"You think I'd leave myself open like that?" Kisame's voice could be heard.

**HIDDEN MIST JUTSU!**

A mist began to cover the battlefield.

"Not this mist again. Damn ninjas!" Zoro said.

"Oh no Roronoa get out of there! You won't be able to see him in that fog." Konohamaru yelled out from a distance.

"What's the kid still doing here?" Zoro said frustrated.

**WATER STYLE: WATER SHARK BOMB JUTSU!**

_*Beni Soubi-Naruto Shippuden_

Before he could respond, a section of water emerged as a large shark and raced towards Zoro. He turned around and without a beat arranged his three swords in a peculiar stance.

**SANTORYU: CRAB GUILLOTINE! **

He split the water shark's liquid jaw, separating the torrent behind it.

Right after it was Kisame ready to swipe with his Samehade.

**ONIGIRI!**

The 2 swordsmen clashed creating a wave of power that parted the waters. This left a circular patch of land inside a cylindrical wall of water and beneath the veil of the mist.

"It looks like your senses are sharp samurai. Not just anyone can react to an attack within the hidden mist." Kisame said. "But these are still my waters and I have the advantage as the top predator."

"Top predator huh? Then let's see you use those instincts to fight." Zoro said.

"Whoa! It's getting intense!" Konohamaru was pushed back by the wave of power from the clash. He eventually fell completely away from the water. As he gathered himself, Sai and Franky approached him.

Kisame separated Zoro's blades with a heavy swing. Zoro evaded his next attack and swiped with his Sandai Kitetsu across Kisame's neck. Kisame ducked out of the way of the attack and evaded the next swipe from Shuusei by jumping over the cut. He prepared another swing but was blocked by a dual side slash from Zoro.

**NITORYU: NIGIRI!**

Kisame sent the samurai flying into the air as the water collapsed into the patch of land. Zoro flew straight through the falling waves still in his Nigiri stance. Kisame, now standing on the water, sent 2 waves of water towards Zoro with a couple of swings from Samehade.

**TOROU!**

Zoro cut through the wave like butter.

**OTOROU!**

The second wave dispersed.

**HIRAMEKI!**

Zoro charged towards Kisame who blocked with Samehade. Zoro pushed him back with enough force to split the water once again, this time creating a cave of water. Kisame eventually stopped his movement and summoned 5 water clones from the walls of the cave. Each clone prepared an attack for the swordsman.

**STREAMING WOLF SWORDS!**

Zoro ducked under the first swing and cut the clone. He then gracefully rolled his body over the second attack and sliced through that clone. He cut the next clone before he could make impact and sidestepped the next clones thrust, ending it with a cut from the Wado Ichimonji between his teeth. In what seemed like a single motion, every clone was cut and returned to puddles. With one Kisame left and the walls of water preparing to converge again, Zoro arranged his swords like arrows aimed directly at the shark-man.

**BULL DEMON: COURAGEOUS TALONS!**

He immediately shot past Kisame like a bullet, slicing him from the chest to the belly with enough force to send him sky high. The waves before him parted as the burst shot through them.

**ITTORYU: **

Zoro said taking aim as the water was collapsing inches away from his face.

**360 CALIBER PHEONIX!**

Zoro sent a huge air cannon straight towards Kisame. It cut through the tower of waves with ease and showed no signs of slowing. With no defense Kisame took the brunt of the attack being cut grievously across the torso.

The others could see Kisame's body fly above the mist.

*Zoro was engulfed by the waves. Kisame plummeted back into the ocean of his own creation, seemingly defeated.

"Did he win?" Konohamaru wondered.

"Your samurai he is quite skilled to be able to best one of the Akatsuki." Sai said seemingly impressed by the showcase.

"Ow! I told you! Zoro is unstoppable!" Franky applauded.

Once again under water, Zoro opened his eye.

(What the-?) Zoro thought as he saw the new hideous form of Kisame.

_*Difficult-Shichibukai OP_

The sharkskin blade disappeared and before him was a man size creature with large fins across each arm from the elbow to the shoulder blade. It bore a sharp toothy smile that hungered for flesh. The creature had a slick and scaly tail that swayed side to side. A large dorsal fin stretched across the head to the tail.

"You're a lot tougher than you look. Samehade seems to think so anyway." The new Kisame said to him.

Zoro braced himself for the new challenge.

* * *

"Come on I'm sure he went this way!" Kiba said running.

"Be wary we don't want to give away our location." Shino who was close behind him said.

"Yea? Tell that to long nose." Kiba said searching his surroundings as he ran. "Besides, after coming all this way, I could use a little action. "

Suddenly Akamaru stopped in his tracks. He began sniffing the ground as furiously. Kiba not paying attention tripped right over Akamaru and slammed his face into a tree.

"Akamaru…why." Kiba said as he slid down the trunk.

Akamaru began drooling a waterfall, yelping and barking uncontrollably. He immediately began running in a completely different direction.

"Where is he going?" Shino asked perplexed.

Akamaru dodged every loose branch in his path, cleared every stump. Nothing was going to stop him from reaching his goal.

"Do you hear that?" Shino said. He could hear a faint murmur in the woods.

"What?" Kiba said pulling himself together. He eventually heard the noise too and realized it was very melodic. A low tone that repeated itself.

"_Gather up all the crew, time to ship out Bink's brew. Sea winds blow to where who knows! The waves will be our guide…" _

"Could that be?" Kiba said. They shot each other a look and pursued Akamaru through the thicket.

Akamaru, who was farther ahead, had his tongue hanging out of his mouth leaking like a broken pipe. It fell lower and lower as he got closer. While he could certainly hear the unmistakable humming, it didn't concern him. Eventually he found his prize in a small clearing, or as clear as this forest could appear.

"YO HO HO HO! HAS THE LOVELY MAIDEN RESCUED ME?" Brook shouted in excitement having finally being discovered.

Akamaru immediately pounced on his bones licking none stop.

"Yohohoho. I'm glad to see you know how nutritious bones are." Brook said pleased with the dogs affection rather than annoyed.

"Finally we've found you." Kiba said reaching the clearing. Shino walked beside them as they greeted the Soul King Brook.

"Ah welcome friends, it's been so long since I've laid my eyes upon another human. Although I don't have any eyes. YOHOHOHO!" Brook said rising to his feet and spinning around.

(Is this freak of nature really a pirate?) Kiba and Shino thought to themselves.

"Tel me what has brought you here?" Brook asked finally calming down. Akamaru still licked on his shins.

"We could ask you the very same. We were asked to come looking for you by your friend Usopp." Shino answered.

"Yea but we kinda lost him in these woods." Kiba added. "Wait! If he's not here with you then he must still be lost we gotta find him!" Kiba said realizing the situation.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about him. Your friend has been found and is in good hands." A dark voice told them.

They all turned to see they had been discovered. Standing before them an anxious Kakuzu.

* * *

"AHHHH!" Usopp cried as he ran for his life in the forest.

A three bladed scythe was launched towards him cutting one of the trees, but just narrowly missing the sniper.

As he ran the scythe pursued him further and further into the darkness.

"Come on! Just embrace your death already!" Hidan ordered s he pursued him.

"DAMN IT! I KNEW THERE WERE FOREST DEMONS!" Usopp yelled to the heavens. "BROOK! WHERE ARE YOU?"

* * *

**Sorry it's a couple of days late but I think it's worth it. I hope not too many of you thought that was the end of Zoro vs Kisame. A little fun fact, by the time I posted chapter 7, I had already finished writing that fight from start to finish. Will we see the end next chapter…only time will tell. Either way I know you guys will love it. I'd also like to ask that people seriously review. Hell even if it's a quick "good job" or "you suck", just let me know you're really reading. I appreciate all comments so keep em coming. Chapter 10 should be out soon. I pretty much wrote it with this chapter so once again it's about working out the kinks. Then there will be a hiatus as I work on finals. Then over winter break I'll have a ton of free time and get to the really exciting parts of this story. The parts that inspired me to write this story in the first place. Keep on reading.**


	10. Strawhats vs Akatsuki pt2

Chapter 10: The Insidious Plot

* * *

"Fufufufu, it seems the Strawhat boy has some kind of talent after all hm." The blonde man said.

"The Akatsuki…" Naruto said.

"Akatsuki? These guys are the Akatsuki?" Luffy tried to get up to speed.

"So this is what the nine-tails looks like. I admit I was expecting something more threatening." The creature said whipping its tail back and forth slowly. "I imagine the son of Sakumo Hatake has taught you well."

"Are you familiar with these Akatsuki members?" Robin asked.

"Yea." Kakashi said studying their headbands. "This one must be Sasori of the Red Sand." He said staring at the menacing inhuman individual. "The psycho behind him must be Deidara from Iwagakure."

"All of the Akatsuki seem to be a bunch of freaks." Naruto said.

"Hey you're the guys who are supposed to tell us where Sasuke is!" Luffy blurted out.

"That miserable Uchiha? Now what would someone like you want to know about him hm?" Deidara said.

"He needs to help us get back to our world! So tell us where he is!" Luffy demanded.

"He and you are alike you know. Stubborn, boorish and one track minded. If you must know he's made himself quite at home amongst our ranks. The nerve, all because of his hatred. In fact if memory serves he is fighting the eight tails as we speak."

"What!" Naruto said in shock. (Killer Bee...No matter what the outcome that fight is terrible. I didn't think it would be Sasuke after him again.)

"It looks like time may not be on our side. But I'm guessing you guys are relying on that aren't you?" Kakashi said.

"We were merely fulfilling our duty on observing the best holders, but if you want to fight I'll gladly be your opponent."

"Well I won't let Sasuke hurt anyone or let them take Killer Bee!" Naruto said.

"Then you'll have to move fast. Your precious Sasuke isn't the type to show mercy no matter how outmatched he is. I could have finished him off if Tobi hadn't interfered." Deidara said. He then revealed the disgusting mouths on his palms. They were busy chewing on clay during the conversation and were ready to release.

"What is that?" Luffy said confused.

"My guess would be how he created those bombs." Kakashi said.

As they opened Deidara performed some seals. In a flash a giant bird appeared. Deidara mounted it and took off into the sky.

"If you want to find Sasuke, then you'll have to pry your answers out of me!" Deidara yelled from the sky.

"Capturing you is important, but I think watching Sasuke die fighting your friend will be more exciting." He said as he took to the skies."After all, he is a weakling just like you." He began flying away from the path.

Naruto grew furious.

"It appears you've struck a chord Deidara." Sasori mocked the young ninja.

"Fufufufu, well I guess I'll be the lucky one to see the nine-tails ferocity!" Deidara laughed as he began flying away.

"Come back here you bastard!" Naruto said as his body suddenly transformed. He appeared to be flaming with orange chakra, in a new coat.

"Whooooa! Awesome!" Luffy said impressed by the display.

Naruto immediately jumped after the giant white bird, disappearing into the trees.

"Naruto wait!" Kakashi said. But Naruto was too enraged and now too far to listen to his sensei.

He began to chase after him but Sasori stood in his way.

"I hope you didn't forget about me Hatake. I made it clear I would be your opponent." Sasori said blocking his path.

"This...is a setup isn't it?" Kakashi said annoyed. "Tell me Sasori, what does Madara have to do with everything that's happened?"

"Clever as expected. Not that it will do you much good. I won't let any one of you get past this point alive." Sasori said menacingly. "Perhaps I'll add you all to my puppet collection."

From the corner of his eye he could see Luffy running after Naruto. He swung his tail towards him forcing Luffy to jump over it. He then released a stream of fire from his mouth, lighting the trees behind him on fire.

"Ah damn Gecko-guy!" Luffy said in frustration.

"Don't worry Luffy, Kakashi-kun." Robin said to everyone's surprise. "I'll bring Mr. Uzumaki back to us. It will be simple with my power."

"That's very bold considering I've already prevented you from going past here." Sasori said preparing his tail. "Let's see if you can back up this claim!"

He fired his serrated tail straight towards her.

"MS. NICO!" Kakashi said worried.

Luffy also looked panicked for a second, but then smiled as he watched Robin vanish in a flurry of petals before Sasori could pierce her.

"What?" Sasori said confused.

"It looks like she's a mystery herself." Kakashi said relieved.

"You see that you big idiot? Looks like Robin and Naruto are going to take care of that mouth guy." Luffy said.

"So since we have a little more time on our hands, why don't we try getting some real answers?" Kakashi said, his sharingan at the ready.

Sasori only stared but his face did not give away his anger. The battlefield was set and the air became still. It was only a matter of time before the first move was made.

* * *

"This isn't what I expected to find when I was told pirates were involved." Kakuzu said studying his opponents. "I'd rather not waste my time with runts who have no bounty."

"So what? You spend this time trying to find us and now you don't wanna play anymore?" Kiba said.

"I suppose I can just kill you quickly. But before I do, why don't you tell me where this Strawhat pirate is?"

(That's right! Master Luffy. Master Usopp.) Brook thought.

"Kiba, take Mr. Brook and let me handle this." Shino said.

"Are you crazy? I'm not gonna just leave you here to fight this guy alone." Kiba said.

"Yes that's right, in times of crisis we must stick together!" Brook agreed prepared to fight.

"What's this? A talking skeleton? He may not have a bounty, but I'm sure he'll fetch a nice price for people studying jutsu." Kakuzu said interested.

"The Akatsuki are always paired. If what he says is true his partner is already attacking Mr. Usopp. This is not the pirates fight. We were given a mission and we must do everything we can to complete it." Shino explained.

"Master Usopp may be fighting one of these men on his own? How unfortunate! I know he is strong, but I can't leave a friend behind like this." Brook lamented.

Kiba thought about the situation at hand.

"It doesn't really matter what decision you make. In the end you'll all be dead." Kakuzu said growing impatient. He slowly began to approach the group.

"Akamaru, take Bones and run as fast as you can out of here!" Kiba ordered.

Akamaru whimpered and snuggled up next to his lifelong friend.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Right now this guy needs to get to his friend and I don't think he'd be much help here."

Akamaru slowly stepped away, clearly unhappy with the decision.

"Hey! Just because I'm all bones doesn't mean my heart doesn't beat with the blood of a man…oh actually it does. Yohoho….HOOOO!" Brook yelped out as he found himself being carried away by Akamaru. He couldn't bear to look back for fear of what he may see.

"Tsk, how much time do you think that'll buy them? 1, 2 minutes maybe?" Kakuzu said. "I may consider keeping you alive if you don't interfere and let me capture them."

"Keep talking asshole. You're gonna regret it." Kiba said now ready to give it his all.

"Keep on your guard Kiba, the enemy is an S-class ninja." Shino said repositioning his glasses with his finger.

Kakuzu gave them one last annoyed glare, before they charged towards him.

* * *

Konohamaru, Sai and Franky saw the water morph into a huge dome of water.

"What's happening now? I thought he was finished!" Konohamaru asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen a jutsu like this. It'll be bad if the samurai loses air." Sai said.

"We can't just sit here and watch. Roronoa may be in trouble." Konohamaru said.

"Don't worry spunky brat. Zoro has this." Franky once again assured. But the look on his face showed his true fears.

"I'm not gonna sit around while Roronoa gets eaten by some shark guy!" Konohamaru said. He then took off again.

"Spunky brat! Damn it! Is there such a thing as too much passion?" Franky pondered chasing after the boy. Sai followed.

_*Giant Stronghold Takeoff!-OP_

"I admit you're stronger than any shinobi I've faced so far. I suppose that's why the samurai have not been made completely obsolete yet." Kisame said inside the dome. "But you have the most strength when you have your footing on land, you're little more than chum waiting to be devoured by me here."

Zoro, saving his oxygen, only stared him down and prepared his swords.

"Don't you ever forget, I'm the big fish in the pond and you're my prey soon to be devoured!" He declared as he prepared some hand seals.

**WATER STYLE: THOUSAND SHARKS FEEDING! **

A torrent of large water sharks charged towards Zoro. It was like a wall of teeth falling on top of him. Zoro was relaxed however, and prepared his swords.

**SANTORYU: THREE THOUSAND WORLDS!**

He created a large spiraling cannon of water that barreled towards the attack. It managed to blow a hole through until it erupted in a chaotic explosion of water obliterating them all. Zoro had to close his eye as he was swept away by the current.

Once he opened it, Kisame bashed straight into him slicing him with his fin. Zoro gasped, swallowing water as he was sent deeper into the dome. A trail of blood led Kisame straight to him. Kisame immediately followed up by kicking him in his back. Zoro was sent flying to top of the dome. Kisame ended his combo by spinning vertically towards him, and finishing with a devastating fin slash across the chest and slamming his tail into Zoro's face. Zoro floated like a corpse in the water badly injured. He sensed Kisame coming in for the kill.

**SANTORYU: ULTRA TIGER TRAP!**

He caught Kisame's fins between his blades as he brought his swords down. Pushing against the shark-man, he sent him away with a powerful thrust. He was surprised to feel the water pressure become lighter as Kisame went flying. He could feel the heat of the desert not too far away.

(What's with the water?) Zoro thought.

Soon he completely emerged from the dome, suspended in the air.

"It's Zoro!" Konohamaru said as they were all relived to see their brash friend. Zoro coughed out some water desperately trying to catch his breath.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kisame said as he charged towards Zoro again.

Zoro took a deep breath and braced for impact. The water crashed into him and Kisame soon after.

"NO!" Konohamaru yelled out.

"That wasn't very nice of you, leaving the fight like that." Kisame said preparing to charge again. This time Zoro was prepared and raised his swords in defense.

* * *

"WHY IS THE GRIM REAPER AFTER ME?" Usopp cried as he continued to run through the forest.

"HOLD STILL AND ACCEPT YOUR FATE!" Hidan screamed, chasing after him.

He tossed his scythe again. Usopp was lucky to avoid once more.

"Alright then if you want my soul…" Usopp said getting a seed out of his satchel.

_*Shuraiya vs Needles-One Piece_

"COME GET IT!"

**SURE KILL GREEN STAR…**

He fired the seed with his slingshot and watched as it exploded as it flew towards the mad hacker.

**HUMANDRAKE!**

Five small human-shaped plants latched on to Hidan hindering his movements.

"What the hell is this?" He said in frustration.

"Now to finish you!" Usopp said placing some more pellets into Black Kabuto.

**SURE KILL: CACTUS STAR!**

Five pellets were aimed straight at Hidan. They formed a star as the made impact, causing a large explosion.

*"Yes, I did it!" Usopp declared enthralled with his victory. "Let it be known to the world that the great Captain is Usopp is the first pirate to directly challenge death itself and WHAAAAT?"

"Thanks, those plants were a real pain in the ass." Hidan said walking from the smoke clod unscathed.

Usopp felt his heart stop as the Akatsuki warrior walked out as if nothing happened.

"So you realize now that you can't possibly win right? So will you let me hack you into pieces now?" Hidan said, approaching ever closer.

In an instant Usopp was running again.

"WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO?" Usopp chanted as another scythe strike came his way.

"Fine go ahead keep running! You're only making it harder on yourself!" Hidan said.

Usopp kept turning back firing exploding pellets at Hidan only for them to be cut and evaded and the sound f Hidan's crazed laughter following.

"Alright then plan number 2!" Usopp said finally stopping.

**SURE KILL GREEN STAR: BAMBOO JAVELIN GROVE!**

Usopp fired another Pop Green, this one aimed straight at the ground.

"Good now hold still!" Hidan said prepared to strike.

The ground started to rumble. Hidan stopped in his tracks.

"What's this?" he said.

Soon an entire bamboo thicket began sprouting up from below him. Caught unaware, Hidan found himself losing his footing and being pierced by countless bamboo plants. They broke through the moist earth easily, leaving a small crater which Hidan fell into. Usopp realizing the attack was getting close to him ran to take cover. After catching his breath he realized it was over.

"Ha…take that…you crazy bastard…" Usopp said pulling himself together. "Now I need to find-."

*_Hidan-NS_

He paused when he heard rustling in his newly created bamboo garden of death. He turned to see some of the stalks crashing down into the pit. His eyes widened in pure fear as Hidan rose from the ground like a true zombie. He was scarred and had pieces of Bamboo sticking through him leaking blood. His Akatsuki coat was torn revealing his entire upper torso. His left arms even had a bone sticking out.

"YOU ANNOYING LITTLE SHIT!" Hidan yelled as he pulled the bamboo out. "You think you can just cut me up and not experience it with me?" Hidan said grabbing the loose bone. Usopp watched in horror as he pushed it back into his body as if nothing happened.

"I'm sure you realize it now. Death is a pleasure unfit for a follower of Jashin like me." Hidan said stretching his arm and ensuring it was back 100%. He then set his eyes on Usopp.

Usopp was paralyzed by what he had just seen, but he knew he had to move. He had to escape, or else he was seriously going to die in this strange world.

**SMOKE STAR!**

Usopp fired another pellet this time creating a smoke cloud.

"A smoke bomb? Come on that's the cowards trump card." Hidan said.

He quickly spotted Usopp escaping the fog.

He tossed his scythe but this time aimed at the ground not too far from Usopp. He then pulled on the cord and carried himself over to the sniper, attacking with a powerful knee.

Usopp flew into a tree with a bloodied face. Hidan did not want to miss this opportunity. He immediately reached for a spear inside of his ruined coat and stabbed Usopp in the shoulder and through the tree, pinning him.

"KEIHIHIHI! NOW COMES THE BEST PART!" Hidan laughed like an animal. "My duty as a follower of Lord Jashin is to ensure I bring death to as many people as possible. Since I am not worthy of it myself, I have the privilege of sharing my pain with my sacrifices!" He said as he pulled the spear out of Usopp. He licked the blood off the spear slowly, savoring the flavor.

Being released, Usopp convulsed a few times, still shocked at the display. He then witnessed Hidan's skin change to a skeletal form.

"KEHIHIHI, LORD JASHIN LOOK DOWN UPON ME AS I SPREAD YOUR GREATNESS TO ANOTHER WORLD!"

Before things got worse for him, Usopp decided to counterattack. He reached for his satchel as swiftly as possible and pulled out a magazine of shuriken.

**SURE KILL: SHURIKEN SHOOTING STAR!**

A flurry of shuriken went straight through Hidan. They sliced, cut, pierced and tore him apart but he didn't seem to respond. He only kept that same insane grin on his face. When the flurry was finished Usopp was left totally confused. Then he felt it.

"It's orgasmic isn't it?" Hidan said with a smile.

_*Luffy's Sorrow-One Piece_

Usopp's skin began opening all over his body. He could feel the blood seeping out of the unprecedented pores. Every inch of pain he just inflicted, coursed through his body.

(What the hell is this?) He thought as he leaked blood. Then he noticed Hidan was standing in a symbol on the ground. It was a circle with a triangle drawn in the center.

(This…can't be real…it must be some kind of nightmare.) He reached for his satchel.

(I have to wake up!). He came ever closer.

(WAKE UP DAMN IT!)

*His arm suddenly had a spasm as a hole appeared on it pouring more blood.

"Pain is meant to be shared, and death is meant to be a blessing." Hidan said with a sickening smile as he had just pierced his own right arm. Usopp collapsed to floor holding his equally damaged arm.

"Now…" Hidan began. Hidan pulled out the spear.

(Is this the end?) Usopp thought.

"Embrace your new beginning…" Hidan now aimed it at his heart. Usopp looked at where he had it and clutched his chest.

(I can't die here…not like this…) He thought.

"IN THE PITS OF HELL!" Hidan said as he prepared to impale himself.

"NOOOOOOO!" Usopp yelled as he watched the spear lead ever closer to the mad man's heart death.

Right before it made impact it suddenly froze over and burst into snowflakes. Hidan put the stump to his chest but only felt the cold prick of its icy summit.

"What?" He said continuously pounding it to his chest.

"Death is not glamorous…neither is pain." A voice said as a familiar figure stood right behind Hidan. "Death should not be embraced for all the anguish and pain that comes with it."

"WHO THE HELL IS THIS?" Hidan yelled in anger. He swiped his scythe behind himself and saw the figure jumped into the air to evade it.

_*Luffy vs Hody (the actual nme of the song unknown)_

"Yohohohohoho!" It cackled as it soared through the air.

"It's true we all must die and return to our creator." It landed right in front of Usopp.

"…but what we leave behind…"

Hidan could not react to what he saw in front of him. It was simply something that could not be.

"IS NOTHING BUT BONES!" Brook said with every ounce of his soul. He held his blade pointed straight at Hidan.

* * *

"So your partner is gone and you're out numbered, do you want to make this easier on yourself?" Kakashi said.

"It's fitting that you're so confident Hatake. Your father killed my father, so you think you can kill me easily as well."

"I'm sorry, I can't help what has happened in a war of the past, but I can stop the world from continuing that cycle of death and destruction in a war of the future." Kakashi said.

"Forget talking to him Cyclops, I'm gonna settle this by kicking his ass!" Luffy said pounding his fist into his hands. "Then we gotta hurry up and catch up with Robin and Naruto."

"Sorry to keep you waiting Strawhat, I am also on a schedule. So let's make this quick shall we?" Sasori said.

He opened his mouth and thousands of needles began firing. Without missing a beat, Kakashi parried each needle as Luffy merely evaded them. Kakashi carefully mapped out each needle with his sharingan and moved his hand like lightning clearing them all. Luffy seemed to remain still as the needles flew straight past him, but looking on the ground one could see the marks of his movement in the scorched ground.

*_Anger-Naruto Shippuden_

In a minute the ground was littered with needles in every direction. Luffy and Kakashi stood just the same as before, both unimpressed.

"I see I'm dealing with a different caliber of warrior." Sasori said astounded by their clear headedness.

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT YOU LIZARD-BASTARD!" Luffy said as he charged towards Sasori. Kakashi did the same.

"Luffy, we should coordinate our attacks." Kakashi suggested.

But Luffy was already tangling with the puppet master. He aimed a punch at the creatures head only for it to block with its tail. Sasori then attempted to stab Luffy, who instinctively ducked and tried a leg sweep. Sasori jumped over that attack and tried to whip Luffy away. Luffy jumped over the tail and tried to stamp in the air only to be reflected off.

"Nevermind." Kakashi said realizing it was hopeless to strategize with him.

Sasori prepared the tail to fire rapid session in an attempt to finally skewer Luffy. Luffy sidestepped each stab flawlessly and jumped into the sky.

**GUM GUM WHIP!**

Luffy's leg stretched out and clothes lined the creature into the trees behind himself. Sasori only stopped his momentum by stabbing his tail into the ground as he fell back. He quickly hugged the dirt with his extremities to return his balance.

**FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!**

Kakashi fired a burst of flame towards Sasori, who responded by spinning his tail around his body stopping it on a dime. The inertia of his tail cut through the fire causing it to dissipate before reaching him. Unfortunately for him the tail continued to swing right into Luffy's hands.

Sasori turned in panic when he realized Luffy's grip on the tail was unbreakable.

"Let's see how you like this!" Luffy said as he began swinging Sasori around. As he did so his body also began to twist. Once the twist reached up to Luffy's chest, he stopped. He then began untying the knot in the opposing direction spinning Sasori at top speed.

**GUM GUM PINWHEEL!**

Luffy fired Sasori like a bullet into the forest. Sasori flew through trunk after trunk after trunk, becoming increasingly damaged along the way. Once again he was just able to stop his momentum by gripping a tree with the tail, but this time the tail started cracking as the sheer force of the toss took its toll. All of the trees in the line toppled over with a resounding crash. Luffy and Kakashi continued to pursue their opponent through the wreckage.

***GUM GUM…**

Luffy began as he jumped in the air before Sasori.

(Such herculean strength, Hiruko can't afford to be hit by that monster again.) Sasori thought as Luffy approached.

He opened his mouth again and fired a flash bomb, dousing the area in a bright light. He then fired a few capsules from a chamber under his left hand at Luffy while he was blinded. It popped open revealing more needles that pierced Luffy dropping him from the sky.

(That poison is lethal enough to even take out an ox. He'll live long enough for us to use him and die shortly after.) Sasori thought as the light dissipated.

Before victory could be savored, an airborne Kakashi appeared.

**LIGHTNING BLADE!**

"I hope you didn't forget about me, Sasori."

Kakashi came barreling towards Sasori, who in turn responded by attempting to pierce him before he made impact. Kakashi aimed his lightning blade right at the spear tip, clashing against it. Sasori stretched the tail as much as he could to push into the copy ninja, but the lightning blade overpowered him and completely destroyed the tail as Kakashi came down.

"Of course not." Sasori replied as his cloak was torn apart revealing the hideous mask on the back of his body. "It's all a matter of getting your opponent in just the right spot."

He faced Kakashi and opened his mouth, releasing a stream of purple gas.

(Poison!) Kakashi realized the danger. He jumped back and hopped atop a higher branch away from the cloud.

"The exhibition is not over." Sasori said as he stopped the cloud. He then released fire from his mouth igniting the poison cloud and creating a large stream of flames.

"I see, you have a lot of tricks up your sleeve." Kakashi said nonchalantly looking at the impending doom.

Kakashi and the forest were scorched in the blaze leaving behind the charred trunks of the once healthy trees. Sasori was likely satisfied with his work looking upon the burning ash. But Hiruko's petrified face prevented him from showing it.

Suddenly Luffy appeared in a flash right next to Sasori.

"WHAT?" Sasori said in disbelief.

_*The Very Very Very Strongest- One Piece_

**GEAR SECOND!**

(Those needles had one of the most deadly poisons coated on it! He shouldn't be able to move at all!)

**GUM GUM…**

Luffy placed one palm out in front of him and cocked his other hand back as if his body it's self was a pistol.

"Signaling your attack? That's a sloppy way to…"

**JET PISTOL!**

Luffy's fist blast into Sasori with an explosive force. He obliterated Hiruko's head in an instant and sent the body soaring like a jet through the forest. The trees were practically tossed aside as the Sasori bullet shot past them. Pieces of the puppet tore off like a rocket ship and scattered across the remains of the forest. By the time he slowed down, there was nothing left of the puppet.

*"Uh oh, I think I overdid it." Luffy said seeing his own destruction.

In the distance he could just barely make out a figure rise from the ashes. It was much smaller than the body he had just destroyed.

"AH! The Lizard thing ate someone! I hope I didn't hurt him." Luffy said.

(If I hadn't been in Hiruko, I would have been completely obliterated.) The young scarlet haired boy said. His mouth was leaking blood but his face remained stoic. (This pirate is not a normal enemy, I need to be more cautious.)

He started to make seals. "I had hoped this battle wouldn't take so much time but I should have known better."

**SUMMONING JUTSU!**

* * *

"BROOK! You're alive!" Usopp said ecstatic at seeing his friend alive.

"Yohohoho! I can't argue with that." Brook said.

"You have any idea how long we've been looking for you?"

"I apologize for being far away for so long. I ave many exciting wonderous stories to to tell you. I found myself with a group of traveling musicians, then I was chased by a mob of new fans, and then I saw the most delicate raven haired angel cross the sky..."

Hidan began to shiver with rage.

"What…" He raised his scythe.

"THE FUCK IS THIS?" He said as he swung the weapon with a tremendous force. Brook clashed his sword managing to match the blade in force, even pushing him back. Hidan was shocked.

"I was looking for you in the woods when this grim reaper guy showed up…" Usopp said.

"Yes your new friends found me and told me you were in trouble." Brook said. "Don't worry! I shall assist you!"

He began charging towards Hidan, who stood anticipating his attack.

"Wait Brook! Don't fight him!" Usopp pleaded.

"Huh?" Brook said.

"He has a weird technique that makes whatever he feels what I feel. What's worse, I don't think this guy can die I tried just about everything."

"I see…" Brook thought. "Then I will just have to fight with all of my soul then." He concluded.

"But I can die! So just run!" Usopp shouted.

"QUIT SCREWING AROUND!" Hidan screamed as he once again attacked Brook.

Usopp jumped out of the way as Hidan pushed Brook against the tree. Brook struggled against Hidan and eventually managed to duck. The scythe cut through the tree, leaving it to collapse.

"AHHHH!" Usopp yelled being forced to jump again before the tree crushed him.

With Hidan off guard Brook managed to slash Hidan across the shoulder.

"You…" Hidan said looking at his new wound.

"Ah! I forgot Master Usopp!" Brook said realizing he hurt Usopp in the process.

Usopp however, stood up without another scratch on him. Hidan's skin changed back to its normal color. He was confused until he remembered the circle.

"Brook under your feet!" Usopp yelled.

Brook looked down and noticed the symbol.

"AH! HAVE I BEEN SUMMONED AGAIN?" Brook yelled confused.

"No the symbol is how he does his technique! Get rid of it!" Usopp yelled.

Before Brook could respond Hidan once again pounced upon him.

Brook thrusted his sword and a stream of cold air bellowed out. Hidan evaded this attack, but realized he wasn't the target. The air hit the symbol, freezing the ground into a pool of ice.

"Oh I've been saved." Usopp said in relief as he fell to his knees.

"Aiya! What kind of devil fruit is this?" Brook pondered. "I must do this quickly! I can only imagine what Master Kiba and Master Shino are going through."

"What happened to them?" Usopp asked overhearing Brook.

"I bet Kakuzu's already killed them. Great now he's going to come here and tell me to hurry up. You see what you bastards of done!" Hidan said.

(A guy who's in cahoots with this lunatic. These must be those Akatsuki guys Neji warned me about.) Usopp thought. (After what I said, and after they found Brook, I can't be standing around here doing nothing.)

"Brook with that guy's ability I can't possibly fight him or I'll just kill myself. But you're already dead and have no blood for him to take. You are the perfect opponent for him." Usopp began. "If you can take of this guy I'll save Kiba and Shino."

"You can count on me Maaaaaster Usopp." Brook said confidently.

Usopp hesitated not wanting to leave the friend he came here looking for. But then he realized the circumstances and accepted his decision.

"I hope your prepared reaper! Our fearless musician has faced you once before and he'll kick your ass!"

Hidan shot him an enraged glare.

"Right going to help the others!" Usopp said escaping.

Brook stared down his new opponent.

"Leave him be, after all it's my soul you're after is it not, reaper?" Brook said in a menacing tone. "I have more than enough to spare!"

Hidan seemed to be motionless. After few moments he began laughing hysterically, losing all control of his body.

"KEIHIHIHI! You think I care about that coward anymore?" Hidan questioned, his bloodshot eyes reflecting his insanity. "You, I don't know how, I don't know why you exist. A creature that does not accept his gift of death and chooses to challenge a disciple of Jashin…You cannot be allowed to exist!" Hidan said revolving his scythe by his side. "This is a test of my faith, and I shall not fail you lord Jashin!

"Hm, yes it is true, I've come back from the underworld and given a second chance at I have seen "him" with my own eyes, even though I don't have any yohohoho." Brook brandished his sword.

"I know… HE IS FAR TOO GREAT TO HAVE YOU AS HIS MESSENGER!" He said with a defiant glare.

"NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES I'LL SEND YOU BACK TO YOUR PARADISE IN HELL!" Hidan cackled as he ran towards Brook.

The two clashed again, their steel resounding in the dead woods.

* * *

The battle in the water dome was escalating. One could see parts of the water turning red as the fight raged on.

*Karakuri Tower Defense System Deploy!-One Piece

Kisame attempted a tail swipe that Zoro was able to evade. He then tried to slam his scaly foot into the swordsman, but only met his two blades. Zoro tried a series of cuts but was easily avoided. Kisame ran his fin blades toward Zoro who clashed them against his own swords. They continued to clash like this, no one quite getting above the other. However Zoro was obviously running out of air.

"I wonder how long you can keep this up." Kisame said with a grin.

Outside Konohamaru grew impatient.

"Hey Robot guy, use your laser beam and fry the fish!" Konohamaru demanded on the outside.

"No can do. Not only does that use a lot of energy, but I'd also risk frying up Zoro." Franky said.

Konohamaru looked on anxiously wishing he could do something.

Kisame was ready to bite into Zoro when his prey suddenly vanished.

"What? Impossible! He can't be faster than me!" Kisame said losing track of his opponent.

**NIITORYU… **

Kisame tried to defend himself at the last moment, but he was already cut.

**RASHOMON!**

The fins on his arms were completely sliced off and a huge horizontal scar appeared on the center of his body.

"You're pretty good. I love it when my prey struggles." Kisame said licking his scaly lips. His fins slowly reappeared. "But Samehade has absorbed your chakra as it attacked you. Even in this form it's been feeding off of your moves and I can use it to repair my body."

(Chakra?) Zoro pondered. He quickly dropped the subject from his mind and prepared his next attack.

**360** **CALIBER PHEONIX!**

A wide horizontal wave of water made its way towards Kisame.

"Not this time!" Kisame said preparing for the wave of water. He channeled his chakra into his dorsal fin and made a vertical flip, sending his own wave towards Zoro's. The clashing forces collided sending a wide force through the sphere.

*From the outside, one could see the dome popping, shaking and morphing.

"I can't take it anymore! We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Konohamaru said enraged.

"Hold on!" Franky called out.

"What do you plan to do?" Sai said.

Konohamaru ran towards the dome with two shuriken in hand. He jumped in the air and tossed them at the dome.

**SHURIKEN SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!**

In a puff of smoke, hundreds of shuriken appeared and flew towards the dome.

Inside, Zoro could sense the shuriken approaching. He moved out of the way to the confusion of Kisame.

"What's wrong? Giving up?" Kisame said turning to see the barrage.

The shuriken entered the dome but were quickly useless as they floated in the water.

"This must be that runt again. He's pretty tenacious." Kisame said. He bum rushed Zoro again punching him hard in the gut. Zoro flew to the far side of the dome, his open wounds burning in the sandy water.

"I hope you weren't counting on him to be your saving grace."

"It's been fun, but I'm in a hurry." Kisame said preparing his final strike. "DIE!" He then found himself mysteriously drawn to the bottom of the dome.

_*Heaven Shaking Event- Naruto Shippuden _

The shuriken suddenly began transforming into Konohamaru clones. They swam towards the bottom.

Kisame looked down to see the clones had formed a circle and began shaping chakra inside. It created a whirlpool that sucked in Kisame changing the direction of the dome.

"What is this?" Kisame said confused as he was sucked into the vortex. Zoro seeing this opportunity swam towards the thinning top of the dome. He shot into the air as the water converged at the bottom.

Kisame managed to gain enough control as he approached the bottom. The Konohamaru clones had run out of chakra and began to disperse one by one. The dome was collapsing in on itself. Franky and Sai ran as far as they could from the converging water.

The real Konohamaru, ended up caught in the falling sphere of water. Noticing the young ninja was trapped, Kisame landed a painful bite on his torso, causing him to scream out in pain. With the vortex stopped, the dome regained its shape.

Zoro was far ahead in the sky looking at the water below. He was making sure to use this time get all the oxygen his lungs could hold. He prepared his blades as he fell towards the water.

**SANTORYU OUGI: CROSSING OF THE SIX PATHS!**

Right at the "peak" of the dome, Zoro vanished and reappeared at the bottom. Kisame released Konohamaru from his jaw, feeling the pain of the cut. The dome was cut into six even sections and Kisame was cut straight down the middle. An S shaped scar formed pouring blood out. The water collapsed quickly spreading across the wasteland. Now it was not much more than a few spread out murky puddles that would be dried up quickly in the desert heat.

*Kisame and Konohamaru fell to the ground. Samehade slowly separated itself from Kisame's body leaving him half naked and severely wounded.

"Why Samehade? You should have a whole reservoir of chakra you've siphoned from him." Kisame said in pain.

"Unless…all of those techniques…" He could see Zoro approaching him swords at the ready.

"DIDN'T USE CHAKRA?"

Zoro unsheathed one blade, his blood thirst palpable.

"Don't think you've won just because you destroyed my water sphere." Kisame said. "I still have some tricks up my sleeve." He then jumped into the air.

**WATER STYLE: GRAND WATER SHARK BOMB JUTSU!**

The water quickly rose from the scorched earth and began to form into a massive shark. Kisame jumped inside, taking shelter in the technique and abandoning his sword.

* * *

Yamato sat atop his wooden Sunny-go container, staring at the bright light over the village. He was processing everything that had taken place in this village a couple of days ago.

(Those pirates they were strong, and we were unprepared.) He thought. (I wonder, if they are on our side…would they be strong enough to defeat Akatsuki?)

He heard a faint whirling sound behind. He immediately turned around to see what appeared to be a black hole taking shape. In a second, the masked man's body began to unravel itself out of the hole.

"What are you doing here Madara?" Yamato said pulling out a kunai and ready to fight.

Tobi completed his teleportation and put a hand on his Gunbai.

"I'm here to change the fate of this cursed world. And I believe you hold something that may be very important to me in making that happen" Tobi said .

"You want my DNA is it? You really are jealous of the First aren't you. So much so that you wish you could become him."

Tobi didn't respond.

"Well you'll have to fight me for it!" Yamato said preparing some seals.

**WOOD STYLE: WOOD FORM JUTSU**

Yamato's hand transformed into a wooden point as he dashed towards Madara.

Tobi swung his fan blowing Yamato away. As Yamato flew through the air, he began to break apart into wood chunks. Tobi looked at his feet and saw some roots begin to coil around his legs trapping him.

The real Yamato rose from the ground as his roots continued to hold Tobi. He pulled a kunai out of his satchel.

"You chose the worst time and the worst place to fight me Madara." Yamato said satisfied in his victory.

The roots eventually wrapped entirely around Tobi's midsection.

"I need to remember…" Tobi said unfazed. In an instant the entire wooden bind was destroyed by wood spikes that protruded from Tobi's back.

"What! Where did you-." Yamato began.

Tobi immediately turned around grabbed Yamato by the throat. "To stop overestimating the pathetic ninja of Konoha."

Yamato struggled to breath. "What…do you urg…hope to achieve by coming here alone?" Yamato managed to squeeze out. "Even if you are Madara, you can't win against the entire military force of Konoha by yourself."

"I never intended to."

Tobi's sharingan began to spiral hypnotizing Yamato with its gaze. Eventually Yamato stopped struggling and passed out.

"These visitors have done a fine job of distracting the nine-tails, and soon the Strawhat will hand deliver it to me." Tobi said tossing Yamato off the large block.

He turned around and stared at light, the light that had brought them to this world and caused all the events that have taken place.

(He is a formidable man, the Strawhat. But his own idealism is his greatest weakness. Pirates…the only kind of warrior even more pathetic then shinobi. Soon he'll serve his purpose and the Akatsuki will have disposed of them.) He thought as the spikes retracted back into his body.

He continued to stare at the light until it slowly but surely disappear.

"Perhaps I've wasted too much time. Kisame should have apprehended the one-tail by now."

With that he began to vanish absorbing the large cube with him. By the time the shinobi of the leaf arrived to investigate the disturbance. He had already vanished, leaving behind nothing but dust and confusion.

* * *

"I won't accept that you can stand up to my water jutsu on brute force alone!" He declared as he prepared to slam into the swordsman.

Zoro took a glance at Konohamaru who was still agonizing on the floor holding his wounds.

_*Zoro -OP_

"You called me the prey, and you the predator right?" Zoro began as he untied his bandana from his arm. Kisame was approaching the water shark practically salivating.

"The biggest fish in the pond is the one that eats all the small fry; such is the way of life." Zoro said tying it over his head. Kisame was only a few feet away now.

"So tell me. Do you know what happens when a bigger fish enters the pond?"

With that Zoro shot Kisame a horrifying look.

(What was that just now? Why is my body shaking?) Kisame pondered as he felt his world collapse. (This, this must be some kind of jutsu, it has to be! No mere samurai can defeat me!)

**ITTORYU…**

Zoro held Shusei out and prepared his attack.

"THE HUNT IS OVER! YOU'RE MINE PREY!" Kisame shouted as the Shark bomb came in for impact.

**DAISHINKAN!**

Zoro grabbed Shusei with two hands and charged towards the attack bringing his sword down through it.

(What?) Kisame's final thoughts flashed in his mind as Zoro passed through him.

Zoro split the Shark bomb and Kisame in half cleanly down the middle, as if he split the seas themselves. The water was dyed red with Kisame's blood as it all crashed into the ground. The cut continued far past the shark bomb, barely missing Konohamaru as it cut along the Earth. The swing kicked up a wave of dust as it traveled.

*When it was all over, the water vanished in the blazing sun, as if it knew its job was done. Kisame lay on the ground, both pieces almost completely unresponsive.

"So…brutal." Sai remarked.

"Yea, when the bigger fish comes into the pond…" Half of Kisame managed to mutter. "A new top predator is crowned."

Zoro sheathed his sword.

"Didn't expect to go out like this, but I don't regret a thing." He continued.

Zoro untied the bandana as he stared the shark man down.

"Good hunt, king." He uttered as his eye rolled into the back of his half a head.

"SUPER! Victory goes to Zoro!" Franky called out in his familiar stance.

"It probably would have been better keeping him alive, we could have learned more about his mission." Sai said.

"Sorry, I didn't want to risk prolonging the fight so he could use those water attacks. Guess he couldn't handle it." Zoro said.

Samehade came to look over his fallen master. It began to whimper in mourning.

"Who cares, we beat one of the Akatuski, that's gotta mean something right?" Konohamaru said, still suffering from his bite.

"Hey kid, what do you think you were doing out there? You wanna die that badly!" Zoro barked out.

Konohamaru was too weak to respond.

"This is why we told you to stay behind, you were almost in the way of that last attack, and if you died you'd only have yourself to blame." Zoro said now standing over the hurt child.

"Shut up!" Konohamaru finally responded. "If you weren't getting your ass kicked I wouldn't have had to step in!"

"What'd you say? I was doing fine before you showed up and got in the way!" Zoro yelled picking up the child. They only shot each other angry glances before Zoro tossed him aside.

Suddenly Samehade appeared in front of Zoro, much larger than before and with all of its spines exposed. Zoro walked up to the ownerless blade. It growled with hostility towards him.

"The sword…it's alive?" Sai said surprised.

"It's not just alive, it's SUPER pissed off too." Franky added.

"Well you are certainly the strangest sword I've ever come across." Zoro said bringing his hand closer to it. The spines on its handles exposed themselves and it grew slightly larger and fiercer.

"Hey sorry about your master, but the way I see it every sword should have some kind of home." Zoro said.

The sword backed down slightly, but was still clearly angry.

"Hmph, you got an attitude on you, let's see if your will is stronger than mine." Zoro said confidently.

The sword lunged at him, baring its fangs. Zoro moved out of the way and grabbed its handle ignoring the impalement from its spines. It struggled for a while but eventually settled down. It found a fascination with the energy it was feeling from its new handler.

"Him you're a bit unwieldy and not really my type, but let's see what you can do." Zoro said accepting the sword.

"He…tamed it." Sai said, not visibly but clearly surprised.

Samehade retraced it's spines and returned to it's normal state. Zoro took up the sash and carried it on his back. He looked back to see Konohamaru finally on his 2 foot looking back at him.

"Listen kid. All things considered though, you did good kid." Zoro admitted.

"…really?" Konohamaru said rubbing his head shyly. "But I got banged up pretty bad in the end."

"Well we don't have a medical ninja now because of you so you'll just have to fight it out until we get to town." Zoro said as he continued towards Sunagakure.

"What, you'd let an innocent little kid die from a horrible wound?" Konohamaru angrily chased after him.

"Oh so now you're an innocent little kid?" Zoro mocked him.

"Well that was exciting, spare parts here we come!" Franky said following them.

Sai stared at the corpse of Kisame, as if he was asking it questions. He eventually realized nothing could be done and he too followed his cohorts.

**_BATTLE IN THE VALLEY OF WINDS: ZORO VS KISAME _**

**_WINNER:PIRATE HUNTER RORONOA ZORO!_**

* * *

**Alright a few important things before moving forward.**

**1 I'm sorry this took so long I've had papers to write and things to do. These next to weeks will be my finals so I won't be able to write for them. Over the holiday season I may not have that much time either, so this is very likely to be the last chapter of 2012. Fitting to have it be the longest chapter yet and the end to one Akatsuki battle.**

**2 I don't think Fanfiction . net or the community is too strict with the ratings system at least when it comes to cursing so I left Hidan's (and last Chapter Usopp's) colorful language intact. I just felt like it kept with the tensions and the characters. If I should think otherwise let me know and I'll censor those words but otherwise happy fucking reading.**

**3 Some of you may have noticed that unlike a lot of fanfiction for one piece and Naruto (or at least from the ones I've seen) I refrain a lot from using Japanese terms or suffixs (besides things that don't have an English translation like –kun or –chan). It's just a preference of mine that I live in America and speak English and writing for the most part an English speaking audience or at the very least a non Japanese understanding audience. I just think I skip over the having to translate for some people or essentially forcing people to take a look at a wiki or dictionary just to know what my characters are talking about by just translating the words into English. I only bring this up because in this chapter Brook references his crew a lot, and we know he always uses the honorific san. Since mr. Luffy just didn't flow right too me I went with master as it seemed to suit Brook a bit better and I even have a feeling this is what funi is going to use if not just make him say the person's name. I hope people are ok with this.**

**4 As a little fun fact, when I first finished writing Zoro vs Kisame, Zoro finished him off with Lion's Song of Death (Shi shishi sonson for you weaboos) But after reading chapter 687 there was no way that move wasn't getting into the story.**

**I think that about raps things up. As always thank you for reading and please continue to do so. We're close to the best part of the story and I hope you'll all still be with me by then.**


	11. Signs of Things to Come pt1

Chapter 11: Signs of Thing to Come

* * *

**Well I'm back! Happy 2013! I hope you all have been doing well and had glorious holidays. I tried to get this out earlier but that clearly didn't work out. My initial plan was to release this with the next chapter since I felt it was a little short, but I also didn't want to keep you guys waiting too long. Since this was going to be the first chapter in a long while, I was worried about expectations being a little high. I hope this will be satisfying for the wait and the next chapter will be out soon. Again I don't like posting stuff at the beginning of chapters, but I just felt like a thank you for those who have stuck around is in order as well as some confirmation I am alive and will not quit this story. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"I don't understand. Why do I have to climb this tree?" A confused Chopper said looking at the imposing plant before him. He tried his best but failed to see even a glimpse of the top.

"It's like I said, in order to learn medical jutsu you need to be able to control your chakra." Tsunade said. "Truth is I doubt you'll even be able to use chakra, considering you come from a world with its own set of rules."

(I guess this is going to be like when I trained with Doctorine.) Chopper thought as he gulped down a ball of anxiety.

"This tree climbing test is one that all genin have to take and every ninja must know how to do. If you can't do this much then it'd be a waste of time teaching you anything else."

(I can do this, if this is the easiest part of my training then there's no way I can go wrong.)

"Are you ok Tony? You haven't-." Sakura began.

**HEAVY POINT!**

Suddenly Chopper transformed into his humongous form, to the shriek of Sakura and shock of Tsunade. He immediately charged towards the tree.

"I wish…he wouldn't do that so suddenly." Sakura said having fallen over.

"Come on Sakura, you need to bring him back here." Tsunade said approaching the tree.

Chopper used his enormous hands to climb furiously up the trunk quickly leaving the ground behind. Without missing a beat, he jumped from branch to branch quickly making his way to the top. Each breath was so powerful it practically propelled him up the tree higher and higher. In a few moments he could see a ray of light. As he hopped to the top branch he could feel its warmth.

"HOW…WAS THAT…TSUNADE SENSEEEEEIIII?" He yelled with his arms outstretched. Catching his breath, he fell back onto the branch, only just realizing how much he put into getting to the top of the tree. After a while as he lied down, he saw a pair of legs walk up to him.

"Tony-kun." A voice said. He was too worn out to realize what was going on.

"I did it right?" Chopper said.

"Not quite."

Chopper opened his eyes fully now and saw Sakura standing beside him.

"Hey you made it up too." Chopper said recognizing her.

"Yes, you see Chopper this is how you're supposed to make it up the tree." Sakura said pointing to her feet.

Chopper looked confused, and then his eyes began to focus. It took him a minute to put it together. He and Sakura gave each other blank stares as he processed the situation in his mind. But as he stared at Sakura he slowly realized she was standing on the trunk of the tree completely still. He then looked below

"AAAAAAH! HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?" Chopper shouted as he jumped back to his feet.

Before Sakura could respond the branch could no longer hold Chopper's hulking form and collapsed under him.

"AAAAAAAAH!" Chopper screamed as he fell down hundreds of feet.

**GUARD POINT!**

He bounced off the marshy ground and flew into another tree branch. He shot into the trunk of another tree and rebounded off the wet ground and continued to bounce throughout the swamp like a pin ball. After a while he finally changed back into his Brain Point and fell face first into the murky pond. As he laid there a few bubbles popped from the surface.

(What have I gotten myself into?) Tsunade face palmed.

* * *

"This feels a bit unnatural." Hinata said, feeling the wind blowing across her body. She wore a lingerie top that tried it's best to cover her breast which despite its best efforts was failing. She found herself trying to maneuver in the tightest shorts the store had to offer in her size. Leaving her normal purple jacket unbuttoned and swaying in the wind, the only thing that could give her any warmth were her long socks that went from just below her knees to her sandals.

"Are you kidding? This is fashion!" Nami cheered her as they walked through the city streets. "If you're gonna be confident in yourself you have to be confident in your body too.

"I don't know if I like all of this attention." Hinata said shying away from the dozens of men practically salivating as she walked by.

"That attention is your number one weapon. As a girl you should know, the tricks to getting exactly what you want." Nami said with a wink.

Hinata still looked flustered, trying her best to grasp what Nami was saying. However, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed and tried to cover herself. "As a member of the main branch I probably shouldn't…"

"Come on already! There's nothing to be ashamed of. If you're cute you got to use it. "

Hinata picked herself up slightly. She took a deep breath and finally uncrossed her arm. "Ok." She said getting a small burst of spirit.

"AHHHHHH NAMI SWAN! AND CUTE ANGEL EYED MAIDEN!" A familiar voice said.

She immediately covered herself up again burning brighter than ever.

"SANJI!" Nami screamed recognizing her lecherous friend in a ramen shop too far away. "Did you have to be such an idiot right now?" she sighed to herself.

"Oh I'm sorry my sweet Nami dear, but your beauty is such a song of grace and elegance I simply can't ignore its call!" Sanji replied practically falling out of his station.

"Hinata its ok, this is just his way of saying hello." Nami said.

"Here you go." Sanji said dropping a steaming bowl of a special sweet soup mixed with tangerine cuts.

Hinata walked up slowly once again releasing her grip on her own body.

"Please tell me is there anything I can make for you my silver eyed maiden. I'm stuck in this noodle house for now but I assure you at any time any day I can make you the finest full course cuisine of your life." Sanji said still looking with his love tinted glasses.

"Oh no I'm ok, but thank you." Hinata said.

"Actually, Sanji is a great example of what I'm talking about." Nami said as she ate her soup. "If you want to see what a strong will and beauty can get you look no further."

"Name anything your heart desires. I am a slave to love!" Sanji exclaimed.

"But I…I guess I some red bean soup would be-."

In an instant Sanji had prepared a sweet scented bowl of red bean soup.

"For you, mademoiselle." Sanji said as he laid the soup down.

"Oh thank you very much." Hinata said in appreciation.

Nami smiled seeing the fruits of efforts slowly blooming.

"Hey Sanji-kun, where are the people who own the store?" Nami asked noticing he was by himself.

"They went to get supplies a while ago. I figured they'd be back sooner but then again there were a lot of people crowding the streets not too long ago." Sanji explained finally dropping his ridiculous mannerisms.

She then noticed a gathering of mysterious men wearing mask in the town center.

"Hmm? What's going on down there?" Nami asked. '

"Since the light disappeared these guys have been investigating and evacuating people. I BARELY NOTICED AS YOUR BEAUTY ALWAYS SHINED BRIGHTER NAMI SWAAAAN!"

"We're back Sanji-Chan!" Ayame said as she and the ramen guy walked into the shack with baskets of noodles and spices.

"Great you guys are back." Sanji greeted them

"I'm so sorry for leaving you alone my sweet Sanji!" Ayame said excitedly hugging Sanji much to his delight and her father's fury.

"We've got plenty of supplies now so you can work more of that ramen magic instead of defiling my daughter!" The ramen guy said finding a place for each item.

"Hey Hinata." Nami said. "Who are those guys? They all wear those weird masks."

"Oh those are the ANBU, Konoha's most elite ninjas except for the Hokage." Hinata explained after finishing a sip of soup. "They must be investigating whatever happened to the light."

Nami continued to curiously watch the commotion until she realized one of them was carrying a body across their shoulder.

"Who is that they're carrying?" Nami said pointing out the ninja.

"That's…" Hinata said focusing. "Yamato Sensei!" She said recognizing the body.

Before they could react, The ANBU carrying him appeared to vanish reappearing across the rooftops toward the infirmary.

"That's someone you know?" Nami asked.

"Yes. He is a Jonin and one of our best and was temporarily captain of squad 7, Naruto-kun's team."

"I wonder what happened." The Ramen guy said with a worried expression as he boiled some water. "I hope everything goes back to normal soon and ya'll find your way back home. As much as I can't deny his cooking skills, I'd appreciate it if this guy would QUIT GOOFING OFF!" He yelled as his daughter continued to fawn over the blonde stranger who continued to sigh with ecstasy.

"Nami-kun, is everything ok? " Hinata asked noticing Nami was focused on the sky.

She had an uneasy feeling across her body. It was similar to when there was a storm approaching on the sea, she would always be able to figure out a way to safety and end the unnerving sensation. But this time it was different, she could feel something much larger than a storm approaching, something or someone was going to change the environment. It was taking its time but it would be cataclysmic when it would make itself known. It was an uncomfortable and unknown feeling and she had no idea how to stop it.

* * *

"Come on Nine-tails, this can't be the extent of your ability." A cackling Deidara challenged as he flew across the sky on his clay steed.

Naruto quickly jumped from tree to tree far below him.

"Get back here you bastard!" Naruto yelled as he stretched his cloak's arm towards the bird.

Deidara easily out maneuvered each attempt to grab him.

"Alright how about this!" Naruto said as he formed a hand sign.

**RASEN…**

Naruto formed a large chakra arm out of his orange cloak and from it spread six orb of chakra.

**RAMPAGE!**

Five more arms extended from his cloak, each arm grabbing a rasengan. They immediately formed an assault team, flying towards Deidara. The bird flew higher to evade the first hand and barrel rolled to evade the next to rasengans. It performed a flawless loop-de-loop around the persistent fourth arm, eventually leading it into the fifth.

"What a shame to have such great power, at the hands of such an artless shinobi." Deidara smugly said at the bird made a U-turn.

It began to corkscrew around the final chakra arm keeping barely out of reach. Eventually Deidara and his pet were not very far from Naruto himself.

"Uh oh!" Naruto uttered realizing what had happened.

"ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU THE BEAUTY OF MY ART!" Deidara exclaimed as he hopped of his bird before it made a mad dash toward Naruto.

Naruto quickly jumped off the branch as it exploded with an incredible force.

Deidara revealed the sickening smiles on his palms as they finished molding more clay.

"Why bother running, this will be over soon!"

Squads of small birds flew towards Naruto like bullets from each of Deidara's palms. Naruto quickly swatted away groups of the birds, creating flashes of light and dust clouds as they burst into flames. The onslaught however continued.

(Damn it! I can barely see.) Naruto said as he jumped back to avoid the birds. Each explosion clouded his vision ever more. After getting a good distance he put two chakra arms in front of him and formed a large rasengan in front of him. The remaining birds collided with the working shield rasengan creating a large explosion upon its dispersion. Naruto covered his eyes in the aftermath of the assault only opening them when he couldn't hear anymore explosions.

He couldn't find anything as he looked around just the remaining smoke from the attack. Before he could make a decision, Deidara suddenly appeared behind him and grabbed him in a bear hug.

"You…really must be stupid…if you think this can hold me." Naruto said only somewhat struggling against him.

"Oh I assure you, I would never dream of relying on such an ugly tactic." Deidara said doing his best to hold the Demon holder.

"Of course you are free to break my clay clone's hold and die in its explosion." Another Deidara said appearing from behind a tree directly across from where Naruto stood.

"You think one of those puny explosions you call art is gonna destroy me?" Naruto barked back.

"Who's to say? Of course if you want an estimation of that clone's power, it's packing enough chakra to make an explosion three times the size of my faithful bird." Deidara claimed.

"I get it…so you set up this trap from the start right?" Naruto said calmly ending his struggle.

"It's your choice now, either come quietly with me or become part of my art."

"How about I choose to whoop your ass all over this forest?" Naruto boldly exclaimed.

A second Naruto appeared from above as if from nowhere, slamming a rasengan into the lone Deidara.

"It appears you are more than meets the eye." The restraining Deidara said. "Of course that goes without saying considering what you are."

Suddenly the crushed Deidara exploded, blowing away the clone and leaving a hole in the tree behind it. The tree was unstable, but still standing.

Surprised Naruto examined his assailant. "So it looks like that clone explosion thing was a load of crap!"

He pushed back Deidara with a wave of chakra as his nine-tailed aura grew brighter.

Deidara flew back into a tree and was quickly followed by a chakra hand that squeezed him against the tree.

"You're out of tricks so you better tell me, where the hell did Sasuke go?" Naruto ordered.

"Fufufufu, you're exactly as the fish boy said you were; tenacious and hard headed. You're in no position to be giving me commands, nine tails!" Deidara stated.

"Don't give me that crap, just tell me-." Naruto took a look at his arm, his actual arm. A small clay beetle was walking around on it. As Naruto scanned his own body he found at least a dozen of the creatures crawling around on his being.

Deidara struggled but managed to bring his hands together to make a seal.

"Detonate!" Deidara exclaimed as Naruto instantly burst into flames. The chakra arm dissipated releasing Deidara, who took the opportunity to catch his breath. As the smoke cleared, Naruto's charred body was struggling to get to its feet.

(Damn…I walked right into that.) Naruto thought as he could see Deidara coming ever closer.

"Now what was that nonsense you were spouting earlier?" Deidara said walking up to the hurt boy. "I am so glad you decided to take the hard way. Beauty is inside those fleeting moments of strength and destruction that simply can't be immortalized."

"Be glad you could be a part of that experience." Deidara said extending his salivating palm out to collect Naruto.

But before he could he found his arm stuck. The more he tried to reach Naruto the more his arm felt pulled back. Soon his other arm was pulled completely behind his back. His spine shot straight up in shock, putting him in an awkward position. He felt his struggling arm crack as it was forcibly pulled behind his back. As he struggled to see what was causing this he realized arms sprouted from his own body and were restraining him.

**CIEN FLUR…**

Suddenly a train of hands appeared starting from under Naruto and to the damaged tree.

**DELPHINIUM!**

The hands carried Naruto along their trail to wherea familiar figure stood.

**SEIS FLUR…**

Four more arms sprouted on Deidara, two wrapped around his neck, and two pulling his legs back dropping him to the floor.

…**CLUTCH**

Deidara was instantly crushed into a pile of broken bones, with a snap that could be heard and felt for miles.

Naruto looked up, both relieved and terrified. Then the feeling turned into complete shock.

"Scary Nico-san?" Naruto said looking at the "Demon Child" Nico Robin.

"Luffy and Kakashi-kun were worried that you were going to wind up in a trap." Robin said. "It looked like they were right."

"Hey, I could have handled this by myself you know. Although if you want help I don't mind." Naruto said with a confident smile as he got back on his feet.

"Are you sure, it looked like you were about to be captured." Robin noted.

"I WAS GETTING READY TO SET UP AN ATTACK!" Naruto defended himself. "I was gonna have like a thousand clones ready to bring him down and I was gonna find out what where Sasuke went. But it looks like you killed him with that power of yours."

"I don't think this is the kind of opponent that would be taken out by that." Robin said as she looked deeper into the forest.

The trees were rustling, as if a helicopter was trying to land. Confused, Naruto looked back at the destroyed Deidara who had already vanished in a puff of smoke.

From the center of the forest a huge beast had emerged. With huge wings it slowly took to the skies.

"I thought I would only use this to leave the forest but it seems you're going to be stubborn." A voice called from the distance. "So now you can taste fury of my C2 Dragon!"

The huge beast covered much of the forest in shadow. Swaying its long tail, its mouth was open hungry for battle.

* * *

Inside the dead woods, the crashing of metal would alert even the most lethargic and docile of creatures to the battle underway. "Dead Bones" Brook's swift sword strikes clashed against the "Immortal" Hidan's furious scythe swings. Neither warrior was completely able to overtake the other; however both warriors found themselves quite elated in their duel. One was eager to please his lord and the other happy to stretch his tired bones.

"Aiyah! Such formidable strength!" Brook said once again parrying the red blade. My muscles pale in comparison, although-."

"You don't have muscles you abomination!" Hidan said continuing his onslaught.

"HEY THAT'S MY LINE!" Brook said furiously. He finally broke the clash with a sudden lunge towards his opponent.

Hidan, reacting quickly, redirected the attack towards the ground.

"NOW RETURN TO HELL!" He said as he swung his scythe in an attempt to bisect Brook.

Brook instantly jumped towards a nearby tree to evade the attack. He then jumped off and thrust his blade towards Hidan, forcing the Akatsuki member to defend himself. Brook continued to his attack on Hidan gracefully skipping and humming as he swung his blade in a lemniscate.

Hidan did his best to defend against Brook's attacks, jumping back as he progressed.

"You're pretty cocky for something that should not be. How long do you think you can keep this up?" Hidan challenged still blocking Brook's attack.

"As long as there are those who need me and these bones are not broken, I will fight on for as long s it takes!" Brook said, remembering his promise to Laboon and his crew. He suddenly stopped moving and brought his sword close to him.

"What?" Hidan said confused.

**GAVOTTE BOND EN AVANT!**

With the force of a hurricane, Brook charged forward, extending his blade at the precipice of his attack. It happened too fast for Hidan to avoid or realize what happened. He was sent flying through the forest crashing through some of the smaller trees. His moment was finally stopped when he hit a fairly large trunk.

"DAMN YOU!" Hidan said as he prepared his scythe. With all his might he cut the tree three times across its trunk, chopping it down.

"Aiiiiie!" Brook hollered as he tried to escape the trajectory of the tree. Realizing it was too big he began jumping on top of the branches of some of the other trees. He was eventually able to jump atop of the falling lumber, only to be greeted by an excited Hidan.

"KEIHIHI!" Hidan yelled as he chased down Brook with persistent swings of his weapon. Brook ducked under the first swing and immediately took off running focusing more on escaping the fall than fighting the mad hacker. Hidan tossed the scythe at Brook who continued to escape as it destroyed some of the small branches of the huge tree.

Brook only struck back to prevent being cut by his blade the few times it got close. The two ran along the falling tree until Brook eventually reached the top which would soon be the bottom.

"NOW I GOT YOU!" Hidan said pouncing towards Brook. There was nowhere left to run, nothing left to hide behind. Hidan was inches away from Brook and ready to strike.

"…Ah!" Brook uttered as he struck Hidan's scythe away from him, causing Hidan to fall off the side of the tree which was close to the end of its fall.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Hidan yelled in disbelief.

"And now for the final verse!" Brook said as he jumped down after Hidan.

**SWALLOW BOND EN AVANT!**

Brook shot like a bolt of lightning as the tree finally collapsed, raising a large dust cloud. Hidan realized the danger he was in. Just before hit the bottom he used his scythe as leverage to jump away from the Brook's attack. Brook struck the ground with a great force unseen in the moist soil. Instead the tree beside him was split open, leaving an enormous gash in it.

"Finally." Brook said solemnly in the dust cloud. "Now I can go and I'M STUCK IN THE DIRT!" Brook realized as the dust cleared.

"Keihihihi!" Hidan laughed as Brook struggled to pull out his sword. He began running towards Brook practically salivating.

"Ah such bloodlust!" Brook said pulling his sword as hard as he could. "Or I guess I should say…"

Hidan swung his scythe.

"BONELUST!" Brook yelled as he pulled out his sword just in the nick of time to lock into Hidan's scythe. They eventually separated.

"This is the last time you get a lucky break like that." Hidan spoke calmly for the first time in the battle.

"This fight has only just begun; it's too soon to know what will happen. Good things come to those who wait." Brook said.

"AS IF! YOU STAIN UPON JASHIN!" Hidan said as he charged once again.

Their clash once again rang throughout the forest.

* * *

Hoof by hoof, Chopper slowly tried to make his way up a tree.

(Whatever you do don't look down.) He told himself.

"Are you really sure you don't want to do this in your more human form? It would probably be easier." Sakura said.

"No I think it's better this way. I should learn how to do this in the form that feels the most natural. Besides I already made it this far like this." Chopper assured.

"But you haven't even left the ground yet." Sakura said from below.

Chopper looked down and realized he barely left the swamp floor.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Chopper said disbelief. Suddenly his hoof broke into the tree. Taken aback, he reverted to his brain point and fell to the ground.

"Darn I was struggling so much…I need to focus." Chopper said angry.

"Remember this Chopper; learning to utilize chakra is only the first step." Tsunade said. "It's crucial you learn to completely control it."

Chopper picked himself up from the gunk of the ground, curious as to what Tsunade had to say.

"You see ninja learn how to access their chakra and release it in different forms and shapes. Typically it's to transform into elements of nature like fire or water, but as medical ninja, we don't mold or release our chakra this way. We add our own chakra to the patient directly, increasing their own regenerative process. It's no different than using medicine or tools."

She walked up to the Senju tree.

"Just like a fingerprint, everyone's chakra flow is unique. In a lot of ways a person's chakra is like its own person. It has likes and dislikes, things that make it stronger or weaker. If you apply yours to it the incorrect way, you can do more damage than help." She brought her hand to one of the drooping decaying limbs. "This is a bond that has no room for error. Mastering medical jutsu requires you to become one with the patient and quickly when on the battlefield." Her hands began to glow and the limb of the tree slowly but surely began to sprout cherry blossoms.

"To do this you must have perfect chakra control."

The words didn't shock Chopper or underwhelm him. Instead what he felt was a slight disappointment in himself.

"I understand. This isn't the short cut that I thought it was." Chopper said solemnly. "I promise I'll do this right from now on."

He transformed back into his speed point and approached the tree. Sakura watched in amazement as this time Chopper started walking up the trunk without any effort. He strolled up the trunk with the same stern look on his face his hoofs shining a faint blue hue.

Sakura walked up to a smiling Tsunade as they both watch the young doctor make his way up the tree.

"I've never seen someone so inept become so capable so quickly." Sakura said.

"What are you worried he'll take you record for mastering chakra control?" Tsunade inquired

"NO! OF COURSE NOT! Something like that isn't important to me." Sakura said embarrassed and rubbing the back of her head. "But something does bother me."

Tsunade looked at her now worried.

"Why did you bring Tony here? Most training medical nins practice on fish when they are just starting." Sakura asked. "You didn't even take me here until I was much farther in my training."

Tsunade chuckled to herself.

"Look at how quickly he changed his demeanor when I told him what was in store. I could tell by how eager and desperate he was to learn medical jutsu, that he was the kind of student who learns best when he can feel the gravity of the situation." Tsunade explained.

She then turned her attention to the tree.

"This tree hasn't bloomed in at least a hundred years. Even I could not make it entirely vibrant again. It remains alive only because of the immense amount of chakra my grandfather put into creating it. In truth I don't know if it will ever bloom completely again. But if he can even bring one limb to life, then he has become a master medical nin."

The branch she had brought to life was wilting away back into the husk it once was.

"I don't know what kind of person would teach a reindeer how to be a doctor, but I imagine they were pretty strict and up front. It seems that's how he's used to learning. If you want it in other words, if you present him with the end result of what he must be able to do, he will apply himself to his training in every way he can."

Sakura began to understand a little. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous of how well Chopper was doing, but she was happy for him in the end.

But as they were silently congratulating Chopper an ANBU appeared from above.

"Lady Tsunade!" He formally addressed.

"What's the problem?" Tsunade said instantly taking heed of his urgent tone.

"There has been a situation in the village. The mysterious light that brought the Straw Hat Pirates here has vanished. We also recovered and unconscious Yamato from the gates where we last saw the Straw Hat's ship. However it appears that has disappeared." He explained.

"What?" Tsunade said astonished.

"Yamato sensei!" Sakura said in fear of the worst.

"We already have our medical team trying to wake him up, but he appears to be under a strong genjutsu. As of now we are awaiting your suggestion."

"I'm coming right now. Nothing good can be on the way.

"I'm coming too Lady Tsunade." Sakura said.

"Wait Sakura, I can handle this, I want you to look after Tony Tony Chopper's training."

"What? But isn't this more important?"

"Listen Sakura, do you recall how Straw Hat Luffy reacted when his hat went missing? Imagine what will happen if he or any of his crew find out their ship is gone." Tsunade warned. "We're in a crisis with the Akatsuki right now and trying to get these pirates back to their world we can't risk having them run amok as loose cannons trying to find that ship."

Sakura hesitated really eager to help her sensei and her village. She eventually realized the situation and nodded in agreement.

"Thank you. Let's move out." Tsunade said as she and the ANBU disappeared.

Sakura sighed and turned towards the tree, now with her heart in her stomach.

"HEY MISS SAKURA! I MADE IT ALL THE WAY UP!" Chopper yelled as he came galloping down.

Sakura did her best to cover her concerns and smiled.

"Great Job Tony-kun."

* * *

It was raining on the angry seas. The waves were leaping from their infinite form ready to whisk away any of the unwary marines close to the edge of the ship. On the one battleship alone were 500 units strong, all of them blackened by the shadow cast by their superior. He stood at the bow, his gaze searing the soul of the most psychopathic of criminals and most valiant of heroes. This gaze found itself on the all consuming gateway before him. His marine coat writhed in the wind bearing the man's code of honor: Absolute Justice. At the moment he spoke not a word.

One marine slowly approached him, having worked up the nerve to do his duty. This was the first time he had both the honor and the misfortune of meeting the Fleet Admiral. HE decided to swallow his rightly placed fear and represent himself well.

"S-sir, we have d-done thorough examination of t-this light and from we have-."

"Have the Straw Hats come through this portal?" The man finally said, interrupting the petty officer.

"AAAH NO SIR NOT FOR AS LONG AS WE'E BEEN HERE SIR!" The soldier, astonished blurted out.

"When I got the report, there was talk of this possibly being a portal. Has anyone gone through?"

Everyone on board hesitated.

"Ah…no sir." Tashigi finally spoke. "We did not want to risk soldiers being harmed if the light was lethal until…"

"Then as far as I'm concerned you have all wasted precious time." The man interrupted again.

No one questioned his words. Most swallow their tongues, while others simply froze still. Smoker hung his head in both agreement and irritation that it had to come to this point.

"For the sake of Justice we have to be thorough in every affair involving criminals. If this was a portal pirates were using to escape marines then we've all been made fools." The Fleet Admiral said, his tone getting ever more furious.

"When there is so much scum on the sea I should not have to waste my time doing what you were ALL TRAINED TO DO!" He finally exploded.

"VERGO! COLLECT YOUR UNIT! You'll investigate this light and report back to me what you find. If Straw Hat Luffy has truly warped somewhere, I trust you will do your job as a marine."

"Of course Fleet Admiral Sir!" Vergo said without hesitation.

"Here is your portable transponder snail." The Fleet Admiral said handing him the device.

"Listen, we've been given an assignment from the Fleet Admiral himself, I will not tolerate single screw up is that understood?" Vergo stated.

"YES VICE ADMIRAL VERGO SIR!" They all responded in unison.

In a few moments the ship was prepared as well as the crew.

"What's wrong Tashigi?" Smoker said noticing his partner's distress.

"I have a horrible feeling about this." Tashigi said as she watched the ship sail closer to the light.

"I don't by this Absolute Justice crap myself Tashigi, but if there is one thing the Magma blowhard is right about, it's that we have to thorough." Smoker said.

"The rest of you prepare yourselves. If this turns out to be what I think it is, I'll need the strongest force of justice by my side." The Fleet Admiral said. "Our job is to eliminate the demons of this world, by whatever means necessary that is what absolute justice means!"

"YES FLEET ADMIRAL SAKAZUKI!"

"Well you guys didn't put up much of a fight now did you?" Kakuzu said picking up his Akatsuki robe. "But I guess in the end you guy managed to save 3 minutes, more than I predicted." He said as he pulled his arm through the sleeve of his robe.

"It's funny that out of all of ya it was the pooch that had the most fight." He pulled the robe comfortably over his body.

Suddenly Zetsu appeared from the ground.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." White Zetsu said as they emerged.

"For once you have pretty good timing. I'm guessing you've checked in with Hidan?"

"Hidan appears to be caught up in a fight of his own; it appears the skeleton is surprisingly full of life."

"That idiot, can I count on him to do anything, I'll just go there and finish this."

"Actually Madara has requested a meeting, apparently another of our members has been slain. This time it was Kisame, I guess he and Itachi were fated to partner even in the afterlife."

"Kisame? Someone took out that tough bastard?"

"Yes one of the Strawhats no less."

"It seems like I was right these pirate are the real deal. I don't know what Madara is planning but if it involves these pirates then it'd be rude of me to not show up now wouldn't it?"

"I take it you're not going to clean up this mess?"

"I was going to use it to lure the Strawhats with vengeance, but besides that I think it adds a certain appeal to this forest." Kakuzu said as he seemed to vanish in the darkness of the forest.

Behind him Zetsu marveled at Kakuzu's work. The strangled corpse of Kiba Inuzuka hung from a thread on one of the dead tree branches; completely inert even in the decaying breeze of the forest. A disfigured Shino Aburame, missing almost the entirety of his left side sat beside a dead tree, his insects appearing to devour the remaining flesh. Akamaru's burnt corpse lied on the ground like a rug to complete the picture. It was truly a most twisted masterpiece.

* * *

**So here we are. First chapter of 2013. Now for comments on the chapter itself. Something I realized is that I typically don't like describing how a character feels rather than letting them express their feelings in their dialogue or in their actions. But sometimes it works much better if a character can't really say or do anything at all and give someone an image of what that character is going through. Speaking of which, I really hope you guys enjoyed Akainu's introduction. Please let me know what you guys think with da reviews. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate them. It makes me want to continue even more and sometimes you even end up giving me ideas. BTW I will be putting up the music points later for now I want to get the chapter out. Stay tuned and thanks again for reading. **


	12. Signs of Things to Come pt2

**Chapter 12: Contact**

* * *

He walked through the solemn streets, rain pummeling his shadowing hood. It was a pale white, a color reflective of his mission to cleanse the cursed slate of his clan. He stood out in the humid Village Hidden in the Clouds; he was the second most wanted man in the world at the moment. He took great pleasure in his effort to insult the intelligence and skill of the Kumo ninja. He quietly studied each face that passed him by, it didn't take long to discern between the useful and the useless. Of course he knew there would only be one place here where he would find anyone useful. He eventually reached his destination beyond a great lake he was familiar with stood the tower, instantly recognizable by its blue windows shining with the light of the sun. He cracked a devious smile, itching to take of his hood.

Crossing the lake, he approached the door to be greeted by two ninja, a young woman and man who immediately prevented him from going any further.

"Are you an outsider or something? The Raikage's headquarters are off limits at the time being, especially to outsiders." The man said.

"I'm only here to ask a question. I get an answer and I leave. Easy." He said.

"Listen punk! I don't know where you get off thinking you can throw around demands, but we run shit here! You should be grateful we haven't thrown your ass out already." The girl violently shot back.

He was unresponsive.

"Come on man, now's not the time to be difficult. Go back to your village. You're not gonna find any company here at the moment. Until Sasuke Uchiha and the Akatsuki are brought to justice, there's not gonna be peace for a while." The boy warned. He then noticed the stranger had no village band. "What country do you come from anyway?"

The white hood was silent.

"Quit wasting your time Omoi. This guy's only gonna leave with force." The girl said readying her weapon.

Before she could make a move, she was already pierced with an electric blade.

"No…way…" She whispered as she collapsed in pain.

"Why you-."

Before he could attack he found himself being choked and pinned against a wall. Filled with contempt, his eyes met his assailants. All he saw was a blood red pool surrounding a pattern of darkness a familiar pattern.

"It can't be! How dare you even show your face back here you-"

Once again cutoff this time by the illusion cast by the black hood's eyes.

After some time, more ninja came to the site.

"Karui!" One said as he immediately picked up her body.

"What the hell happened here?" another ninja said as he tried to wake up Omoi.

"It was…Uchiha…" he said slowly coming too.

"What?"

A few miles away, his face now clear to see, he walked down a lonely road. He was not faltered by his solitude as he was the only one who could see the way through this path of darkness.

"I see, so I'm not too far away. Finally you'll see how far I've come, Brother. You'll see our clan's purification through me." Sasuke Uchiha said, itching to capture his target.

* * *

(I hope I'm not too late!) Usopp ran through the dead forest, no longer worrying about the dark aura it emitted or the supposed demons that dwelled in it. (It's four against one anyway right? They couldn't have been…) Usopp feared the worst. (I can't think like that, I got them into this mess I have to do what I can to get them out.)

As he ran he could see his own set of footprints in the soft soil made in his earlier sprint. (If I follow these I'll be sure to find them)

He continued full of energy down the path as a clearing came into view.

"YES!" He said feeling invigorated. His feet quickly went into overdrive as the clearing came ever closer. There were trunks with holes in them and some trees burned completely as he made his way, but he paid no mind. He reached for his slingshot prepared to do battle but as the scene became more apparent his legs suddenly loss all of their rigidity. He began to hobble over like a marionette with a string cut. He finally stopped moving altogether when he could see his friends' corpses lining the scenery. He slid to his knees shivering.

"…Damn….it…" He muttered in both rage and guilt. He suddenly broke into tears as he pounded his fist into the ground managing to even break some of the soil in his fury. "DAMN IT ALL!"

As he cursed himself and everything around him, feathers began to descend upon the area. With his eyes veiled by tears, Usopp didn't even notice them gently float to the ground and with his mind blurred by anguish, he could not feel himself become sleepy. Even as he was slowly lulled to sleep, he hissed and cursed his lungs out, all the way until he hit the ground, knocked out.

Three ninja suddenly appeared upon him. They were heavily garbed and bore breathing mask.

"As always you were correct my angel. He was sure to return here after going to arms against Deidara." One said, his speech sounded almost robotic when muffled by his mask.

"I don't mean to go against your word, but are you sure we should not simply kill him here and now?" Another one said as paper began to swarm the area.

"No, we bring him to the dungeon. God Pain has a need for the Strawhats to remain alive." A gentle voice said as the paper began to take human form.

"What about the skeleton? He is also a part of the crew and not far from here, should we imprison him as well?" The first ninja said.

"No." The paper said as it took the form of a woman with violet hair and wings in the sky. "For what God Pain plans, he will be of no use to us."

* * *

"Do you see him yet Cyclops?" Luffy asked Kakashi as they jumped through the ruined trees into towards Sasori.

"No, after he came out of that shell he summoned something and vanished. Be on your guard." Kakashi warned. He then realized Luffy was staring at him.

"Uhh..." Kakashi said as a bead of sweat rolled down his neck.

Luffy continued silently stare. He was entranced by his sharingan eye.

"AH! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR EYE?" Luffy finally blurted out.

Kakashi almost lost his footing at the sudden shock. He eventually landed on the forest floor, doing his best to forget what just happened.

Luffy dropped down next to him. "I thought you only had one eye this whole time! Can you see through that thing?"

"Well actually…" Kakashi began but then he noticed a black cloud take shape not far behind Luffy.

"Look Out!" Kakashi said as he tossed Luffy out of the way and evaded the cloud.

Luffy quickly got to his feet. "Damn I was careless." Luffy said seeing the large clump in the air. "What is that thing?"

"It's…iron sand. This is the third Kazekage's technique." Kakashi deduced. "How did you get an ability like this Sasori?"

"Yeah show yourself you coward!" Luffy said.

"Puppetry has come a long way, Hatake." Sasori's voice called out from within the forest. "When you are resolved to become the best of your craft by any means necessary, creating lifetime lasting works of art with human flesh is possible."

As he spoke a puppet appeared behind the iron cloud. It wore a large brown cloak with a demented glare and black hair.

"You really did it! You made a puppet out of a corpse, and the third Kazekage even." Kakashi said surprised at the figure.

"Where did this guy come from? He's the one making all the iron stuff?" Luffy asked.

"Strawhat, be thankful you'll be spared. Even if I had planned to kill you, it appears you have some resistance or immunity to poison. However, I can't say the same for you Hatake."

"Like hell, if you're gonna try to kill pinkeye, you're gonna have to kill me too!" Luffy said defiantly.

(I don't think that statement turned out the way you planned.) Kakashi thought.

The puppet outstretched its arms.

**IRON SAND GATHERING ASSAULT**

The iron sand began molding together

**GIANT SPEAR**

The spear shot towards Luffy and Kakashi again.

They both easily evaded the attack, each jumping to their own side out of its path.

"Don't think that is the only thing the iron sand is capable of." Sasori's voice warned.

**IRON SAND DRIZZLE**

The spear dissolved into small bits of iron that began to sharpen. They then fired like bullets towards the two fighters.

Kakashi parried and evaded as many as he could. He managed to back flip far enough to prepare some seals.

**EARTH STYLE WALL!**

He placed his pals on the ground and a mighty layer of earth sprang up, blocking the bullets as they collided. Luffy, using his haki, evaded the bullets more easily. He then seemed to disappear out of their way.

Luffy reappeared above the Kazekage puppet.

**GUM GUM…**

As Luffy prepared his attack the iron bullets all stopped and began taking new shape in the sky.

**GIANT HAMMER**

On each of Luffy's opposing sides there was a large block of iron. Noticing them, Luffy quickly flipped over the colliding masses.

"Now…" Luffy prepared as he continued spinning in the air.

**GUM GUM…**

The iron sand gathered around the Kazekage puppet.

**SPEAR!**

Luffy planted both fit firmly into the iron clad puppet. The shield did little good to protect against the attack as the puppet was shattered on impact with the ground.

Luffy landed with a satisfied grin.

"How's that Iron guy?" Luffy said.

The puppet mysteriously melted into the pool of iron sand surrounding it.

"You didn't think I would risk my favorite puppet being damaged did you?" Sasori said, still hidden.

(An iron sand clone…) Kakashi realized standing atop his pulverized earth wall.

The sand began to form into a spherical shape.

"Luffy get out of there! It's a trap!" Kakashi called out.

"What?" Luffy said noticing the orb began to expand.

**IRON SAND WORLD METHOD**

The iron sand suddenly burst into hundreds of spikes firing in every direction. Each spike bore through the trees and ripped apart the forest. Some split apart the earth itself and extended their reach through it. The sand stretched on for at least 10 meters. In a minute the forest was decimated.

* * *

"This damn forest is starting to get on my nerves. I wonder if Hidan is finished with that bag of bones yet." Kakuzu said as he made his way through the forest. "He better not of completely wrecked him. He's gonna need to look good for the black market."

Neji did is best to hide his presence as Kakuzu walked by him.

(This is bad, I knew this would happen.) Neji thought to himself. (He appears to be heading back to Amegakure at least, so I know the village isn't in immediate danger.)

With his Byakugan he could see the entirety of the range of events in the dead woods. From the corpses of team 8, to the battle between Brook and Hidan, to the crew of Amegakure soldiers leaving with Usopp, and of course Kakuzu making his way to the village.

(It also seems like they aren't intent on killing Usopp, yet they also want to destroy the zombie. Seems suspicious.) He focused more now on the corpses. (At least that monster is satisfied for now, the fool.) He then noticed a body he hadn't before. It was walking slowly and seemed wounded but it was making its way towards Amegakure.

(What is he doing?) Neji thought as he rushed towards the figure.

* * *

The violet haired woman flew high across the gray sky, the rain pounding on her paper wings. With the speed of her flight she managed to dry them just as quickly and continue up towards the only object visible at this height: the tallest skyscraper. As she descended the tops of the other towers could also be seen.

"Good of you to return Konan." Tobi said as she walked into the dark vestibule. It was a fairly small room, but big enough to fit a small house or possibly a ship. "I only recently got back myself. How is Nagato?

"While it has been slow his recovery is-." Konan began.

"Konan…don't worry I am well enough to answer myself." A voice spoke. "I will be capable of fighting at one hundred percent just as soon as I have my paths of pain restored." An emaciated figure said as he appeared from within the depths of the room.

"I believe I have already found one of your potential bodies." Konan said as he approached them.

"Excellent, things are moving more quickly then I had hoped."

"One of the bodies? Don't tell me it was that long nosed weirdo Hidan was chasing." Kakuzu said as he also entered the room. "He'd be a waste of time as a path of pain, just hand him over to me and open that portal up.

"The portal won't be opening up again. Remember our main goal Kakuzu" Tobi noted. "Zetsu has there been any word on the others?"

"Hidan appears to be having difficulty with the undead pirate." Zetsu began.

"I wasn't worried about him. He wouldn't be of much use in this meeting anyway."

"Sasori on the other hand is keeping Straw hat and Kakashi busy just as you ordered. When I found him his beloved Hiruko had just been shattered but he was determined to complete his task before he arrived here."

"What about Deidara?"

"Deidara is attempting to catch the Nine-Tails. It appears revealing yourself as an Uchiha has rubbed him the wrong way, for him to go out of his way to prove himself like this."

"He is efficient, if not tenacious. Whether he captures the nine-tails or not he has already succeeded in slowing him down." Tobi concluded. "Kisame?"

"Well it appears he overestimated his own abilities. He will not be showing up here anytime soon."

Tobi jolted for a split second somewhat surprised. But just as quickly, he settled back into place.

"There's a surprise, did he fail to capture the One-Tail?"

"Apparently he crossed paths with one of the Strawhats subordinates. Even with his greatest techniques he could not win."

"So the fish finally went belly up. I have to admit, he was one of the few people here who didn't make a habit of pissing me off." Kakuzu said.

(Perhaps I should be wary of these pirates. To be a subordinate capable of besting Kisame…) Tobi thought.

"Fair enough. The seven of us are more than powerful enough to reach our goal." Tobi said as he looked down a shaft in the room. In it lied the Thousand Sunny shrouded in darkness.

"I am curious to know Tobi; just what do you have in store for us. You sent away young Sasuke and seem to be focusing on these pirates."

"Patience. All will be revealed soon enough."

"If these pirates are as strong as they seem, we shouldn't waste anymore time." Nagato said.

Suddenly a flash of light appeared from the far wall. Everyone took a step back as the light expanded into a brilliant tunnel.

"What is this?" Konan said trying to shield her eyes.

(What is that punk doing? This wasn't a part of our plan!) Tobi thought to himself as a giant figure appeared from the light. Soon a warship peaked out of the tunnel and made its way to the hard surface of the room. The Akatsuki had to retreat in order to escape the vessel's pursuit.

**SHINRA TENSEI!**

Nagato pushed himself slightly to keep up with the others.

Finally the vessel crashed completely into the center, blowing away just about everything around it. After the wave of debris cleared, the Akatsuki opened there eyes to see a marine ship invaded their hideout and the light now illuminated the dark cave.

While they couldn't quite see, the sound of a door opening and closing could be heard. Out came a man of about thirty with a sharp looking pasta encrusted beard and dark blue hair. He adjusted his shades and looked at his surroundings.

"How troublesome. I almost got spaghetti on my coat." He said casually. He then noticed the people below him.

"Yes, sorry about your floors, the marines will pay for the damages." He said as he jumped down.

"Tobi what is the meaning of this? Who is this man?" Konan asked.

Tobi remained silent for a moment.

"It's not important! This man or anyone else from that world should not be here right now!" Tobi said in frustration.

"You need someone erased? Not a problem." Kakuzu said as a mass of threads with a mask formed over his shoulder.

**WIND STYLE: PRESSURE DAMAGE!**

A huge burst of wind fired from its mouth, aimed straight for the man and the ship. He didn't move an inch as the wave blew away almost everything in the room.

After the dust cleared, there was a large round hole in the ship and pieces across the room. However, the man stood, with minor scratches and a trail of blood from his skull, but otherwise unfazed.

"Vergo sir! What's going on down there? We're being attacked!" A voice called from the remains of the ship.

"Now that was a stupid thing to do." Vergo said brushing dirt off of his clothes. "I just want to ask a few questions. Do that for me and I promise I won't kill you."

* * *

So hopefully Vergo's entrance was badass enough. I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, but when I need to make fight scenes, I have to think about how it goes in its entirety, I also have to kind of balance the characters out a little bit so it's interesting, then when I complete how a fight goes, I have to think about how to break it up among each chapter which is important to avoid that Kisame fight incident. So forgive me if it seems some chapters end up being much longer than others. As a side note, I am overwhelmed with joy at the reactions to the last chapter I posted, both good and bad. I think it says a lot about how much people enjoy your work when you get such an emotional response like that. I promise we will find out the truth next chapter although I'm sure people who are familiar with both series, (read everyone) already has a foregone conclusion in their mind. I think I'll stick with adding music suggestion in edits since it let's me get the chapter out faster. Thank you and continue to enjoy the story. I'm having a great time writing it.

BTW normally I don't like to do this, but I've been a real TVtroper as of late and…well…if anyone wanted too…you know, put this story in Fanfic recommendations…that would be just fine with me. Peace out.


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